The Seventh Year
by Aibileen Finch
Summary: I stomped over to him, and got ready to smack his head, until, of course, I saw his face. Let me just say it, here. He looked adorable. Dark lashes fanned his cheekbones, and he looked peaceful; he looked so innocent, you'd never believe he'd ever taunted a Slytherin.
1. Goodbye, holidays

I, Lily Evans, had been made Head Girl. I'd been working hard for it all year – and wanted it desperately, I won't deny it – so it came as a very pleasant surprise. Not to mention, the look on my parents' faces made it doubly worth it. And that on Petunia's – priceless. A week later, another letter arrived from Hogwarts. This time, it was the list of books and other essential items I had to purchase my supplies for the upcoming year. I had to board the Hogwarts Express on the 1st of September, as usual. Which left me with 10 more days to finish buying all the necessary items.

Meanwhile, I had received letters from my best friends at Hogwarts, Marlene and Alice.

A little introduction of them here.

Marlene was the kind of person you couldn't help liking instantly, thanks to her pollyannaish nature. She was unbelievably optimistic, though she was probably the only girl in our year with a temper to rival mine. We agreed on almost everything, except one thing – Quidditch. That girl had an insane passion for the game which I didn't understand at all. Often, I strongly suspected that she suffered from hyperactivity disorder, because no one could possibly be that energetic the whole day.

Alice was, you could say, the only voice of reason in our group of three. Not even James Potter and Sirius Black could irritate her. She was the most un-teenager-like girl I'd ever come across. When it came to her, there were no dramatic fits of temper, girlish squealing over the newest fads, or gossip about the latest rumors. She was the sole reason Marlene and I were still sane. Actually, I often wondered how she'd managed to land up with the two of us as friends, and why she hadn't run away yet. Her letter to me was surprising, because it revealed an unexpected girlish side of Alice. For three-fourths of the letter, she'd been gushing about Frank Longbottom (I found his last name kinda funny, but I'd never tell her that), her boyfriend of just one week. She rambled endlessly about how charming he was, how awesome he was, how amazing he was and how wonderful he was.

 _Looks like someone is obsessed,_ I smirked to myself.

They had both suggested a one week stay at Diagon Alley. Truthfully, the offer was too tempting to pass up. I had to get permission from my parents (I was planning to use my best poker face to persuade them, and of course, the Head Girl badge would help). Besides, this was my last year at Hogwarts. To actually make our time there productive, though, we had to reach Diagon Alley in 3 days. Which would give us a full one week's time to explore the place – shopping, eating, etc. Merlin, I couldn't wait to go to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour again. The mere thought made my mouth water. I realised I had to start packing as soon as possible. I let my owl Alba fly out of the window, with a reply to Alice and Marlene each.

From the corner of my eyes, I noticed Petunia spying on me. This attitude of hers was usual. I didn't know what I wanted more – to get completely rid of her and her snide remarks or to have her back as my sister.

"Petunia, you can come in if you want. I am going downstairs anyway," I informed her and left the room.

"I wouldn't enter your room willingly in a million years, freak. Who knows what I'll find in there? Frog spawn and white mice, maybe?" She shouted after me.

 _What do you do at my door, then, take in the scenery?_ I wanted to retort. Instead, I ignored her, and cornered my parents to convince them to let me go.

All was set. I was going to leave for Diagon Alley in two days. My stomach fluttered in anticipation. I was going to meet my friends after a long vacation. My parents were accompanying me there. I bid goodbyes to everyone I had to. I bid farewell to the only member of my family who wasn't accompanying me, Petunia. She didn't care to acknowledge me, though. She was busy texting her pig of a boyfriend, Vernon Dursley.

Two days passed in the blink of an eye.

Diagon Alley it was! I had finally reached my destination. This was the world where I truly belonged. Here, I wasn't considered a freak, I was just another witch. I saw a few familiar faces from Hogwarts.

I finally decided to shop for the books I required. I'm called a bookworm, but I think I own up to the title. I'd prefer books over people _any_ day. I went to get myself the Defence against the Dark Arts books. It was my favourite subject after Potions. It was a kind of intellectual subject; it thrilled me immensely. From what I had heard, 'Lord' Voldemort (who the hell takes up a title like that in the 20th century?) had started waging a war against a particular faction of the wizards. The papers were always filled with news of mysterious murders and wizards turning into Death Eaters. Hardly any positive news to read in the paper.

I shoved aside all these thoughts and walked into the store. I asked for the books I required and started walking around the place and reading random books I found interesting.

Just as I turned around to walk back, I banged into a hard chest. The devilishly handsome face it belonged to smirked at me.

"Evans, what a pleasant surprise!"

"Hello, Black. Fancy seeing you in abookstore," I retorted. The smile never faltered from the arrogant git's face. Surprisingly, Sirius had never shown a flair for Slytherin unlike the rest of his family. He had been the first one ever in his family to belong to the Gryffindor. Despite his haughtiness, I had never found Sirius to be 'evil'. Somewhere, I believed he was a true Gryffindor at heart. My dislike for him apart, he had his finer points too, like everyone.

"Evans, are you listening?" asked Sirius.

"Um, yeah. My holidays were pretty good. I made Head Girl! And – "

" _You're_ the Head Girl?" Sirius exclaimed with a somewhat scandalized expression.

I felt offended.

"Why, you think a muggle-born would be unworthy of the post?" I snapped, though somewhere I knew Sirius wouldn't be thinking along those lines. He wasn't like other pure-bloods.

"No! That's not what I meant! But Lily, love, I'd be so happy to be the one to tell you that our dear Prongs here –"

"Yes Lily. Our holidays were good too. Thank you," This was from someone else. The better half of Sirius Black, James Potter. Obnox- Wait, had he just called me 'Lily' and not 'Evans'? And was I dreaming, or had he actually thanked me? I was too stunned to reply.

And what was Sirius about to say?

"See you on September 1st, Lily."

He elbowed Sirius pointedly.

"Yeah, see you in the train, Evans! Goodbye!" Sirius said hurriedly and left along with James. I barely managed to wave. I was shocked beyond question. What had happened to James Potter? Had he finally learnt manners?

And there was definitely something suspicious going on between Potter and Black.

I guess maybe miracles did happen, such that people like Potter became civil, but this was Potter I was referring to, not a normal person. I assured myself that he was probably up to some mischief. I definitely wouldn't fall for it this time. I collected the books and left the shop to meet my parents waiting for me.


	2. Diagon Alley

I spotted Alice's bushy black hair outside Eeylop's Owl Emporium. She was busy arguing about something, waving her hands about animatedly, with an extremely flustered looking Marlene, who appeared to be gesturing towards a case of some kind.

"Isn't that Alice, Lily?" Mum asked, straining to see over the crowd of people.

"Yup, mum, that's her – and the other girl is Marlene."

Mum knew Alice already, since I'd spent two weeks at her place during my last summer holidays.

"Well, then, don't keep them waiting anymore! Is there anything else you need to get?" Dad asked.

I hurriedly went through my list of supplies again, eager to get to my friends.

"Nope, dad, I guess this is it. I'll call you up if I need anything else." He nodded.

"I guess this is goodbye, then," he said, pulling me into a hug.

"Take care, Lily. And don't forget to owl us regularly," Mum said. I hugged her as well.

"I will, mum. I'll see you soon. I love you."

"We love you too, Lily. Go now. Take care," she said again.

I turned to leave with a final wave, when I remembered something else.

"Mum, dad?...take care of Petunia." I'd miss her too, in a way.

"Sure, dear," Dad said reassuringly, and mum nodded.

With a last goodbye, I turned and started rushing towards my friends, bumping into several people on the way. I thought I heard someone swear.

"ALICE! MARLENE!" I yelled, waving my hands to get their attention when I was a few feet away.

Marlene heard me and turned around, her face breaking into a crazy grin as she saw me.

"Hey Lily!" She exclaimed just as I reached them. Only then did I notice that the case I thought I'd seen earlier was in fact a cage, holding a very handsome, albeit evil looking black owl.

"Thank God you're here, Lily, because this friend of yours is driving me to madness."

"Oh, please, Alice. Lily, what do you think of this owl here? Isn't he just the most innocent thing you've ever seen?"

Alice scoffed.

"Lily, he has been in our company for twenty minutes, and he's managed to devour my new dress robes, Marlene's flip-flops – though she doesn't care – and my handbag. The one Frank gifted to me."

Uh oh.

"You are a cruel, cold-hearted, animal hating scarecrow, Alice. Lily, she wants me to take him back!" She said, like she couldn't believe it.

"He's such an adorable, cute thing! And I've decided to name him Jet."

Seeing the adoration in her eyes as she stroked his jet black (forgive the pun) feathers, I knew it was a lost cause.

I shrugged at Alice apologetically. She seemed to realize it, too, because she set Marlene with a resigned look.

"All right, fine, Marlene. But if he so much as _touches_ any one of my belongings again, I swear I'll personally feed him to the Giant Squid."

Marlene didn't appear to have heard anything past 'All right, fine, Marlene'. She grinned maniacally and enveloped me in a hug.

"I've missed you _so_ much! I can't wait to get started with exploring Diagon Alley now that you guys are here. Come on, Alice!" She said, grinning at Alice too, who was apparently her best friend again now that she had her owl. She began steering us towards the Inn, where we would be staying for the rest of our holidays.

I was here at last, and the familiar faces of my friends made me feel like I was at home in Diagon Alley.

We collapsed on our beds immediately after we reached the Inn. I fell asleep almost instantly, tired after the long day.

The next day, and the days after that, followed the same pattern – wake up at noon, have breakfast, go outside, and then shop, eat, talk and eat. Then go back to our Inn just as it gets dark, and lay on our beds and talk endlessly about anything and everything until the next morning.

We continued with our carefree schedule. In the past week, Marlene and Alice had purchased a few things. Marlene got herself a new quidditch kit ( I found it really unnecessary) and Alice got something for Frank. It wasn't until the night before September first, when we had to face the bitter reality of another year, the _NEWTs_ year, ahead. Alice prodded and pushed Marlene and me until we packed our trunks completely, ready to pull them into Kings Cross Station the next morning.

Then, wanting more than anything to get a time-turner and go back to the beginning of the week (though I couldn't deny that I did badly want to see Hogwarts again too), we fell asleep, ready to board the Hogwarts Express back to Hogwarts the next day.


	3. Meeting the Head Boy

"Alice, you're stepping on my _toes!_ "

"Oh – sorry, Lily – "

We were jostling through the crowd at King's Cross Station, tugging our trunks behind us, struggling to make it to the Hogwarts Express on time, while trying to avoid knocking down as many muggles as we could.

"Hurry up, you two!" called out Marlene ahead of us, who'd somehow managed to reach the barrier twenty minutes before us. Alice let out an angry breath.

Five minutes later, we found ourselves face to face with brick red barrier which was to be our entry to Platform 9 ¾. The door to my world.

"We could have done with some help, Marlene," Alice said, while Jet flapped his wings impatiently in his cage. "Oh, shut up. You aren't the one who had to carry a trunk weighing a hundred tons across the city," she snapped at him. Marlene met my eyes with a confused expression, and seemed to be asking, _'What's the matter with her?'_ I shrugged. I opened my mouth to remind them that we were already very late for the train, but stopped at the look on Alice's face. Instead, I decided to just walk through, and let them follow.

I pushed my trolley through the barrier, and immediately found myself among people wearing familiar old-fashioned robes, and tall, pointed hats. The scarlet Hogwarts Express stood belching steam in the distance.

I moved aside, so that Alice and Marlene wouldn't bump into my trolley as they came in. They appeared a minute later. We immediately started towards the train, which already had students hanging out of windows for final goodbyes.

"Oomph!"

My thoughts about Alice had engrossed me so much that I had been oblivious to my surroundings. I gathered myself and started prepping up an apology, when I found myself looking at the familiar brown hair and golden-brown eyes of Remus Lupin.

"Sorry, Lily – oh, congratulations!" He exclaimed, smiling, eyeing the Head Girl badge which I had already put on.

I beamed.

"Thank you, Remus," I said, smiling back. "Where's yours?"

"Er –what?" he asked, looking confused.

I gave him a look and said _Duh, your Head Boy badge._

"Uh – I'm not the Head Boy, Lily."

"Wha – you're not?" I asked, quite taken aback. I'd been sure for a while now that it had to be Remus; there was not a single Seventh Year boy more responsible than him.

"Oh, then _who_ is?" I asked, my voice burning with curiosity, half wondering if he was lying.

He looked extremely uncomfortable now. "Um, so how have you been, Lily? Had a nice vacation?" He asked me. Why was he dodging my question?

"Remus, you look decidedly sheepish. I'm sure you know who the Head Boy is. I don't get why you are not telling me who it is."

"Uh – er...well, that is, I'd rather not be the one to tell you. I'm sorry."

"Remus, please! You just have to give me a name!"

"Sorry, Lily, have to go – I'll see you later!" He said, just as the Hogwarts Express let out an ear-piercing whistle, and immediately took off.

I ran towards the express to find my stuff missing.

"Got your trunks in, Evans," informed a familiar voice. I turned around to see Mr. Obnoxious Black, lifting Marlene's trunks into the train in a hurry. I also noticed from the corner of my eye that Marlene was grinning at him. I frowned but didn't have the time to ponder much about it and got into the train myself.

"Thank you, Sirius," I told him.

"Yeah Sirius, thanks a lot for the help," Marlene added and smiled. Instead of responding to my words, he gave Marlene a gallant bow along with a daredevil smile and left. Hmmm. I saw Marlene's eyes follow him.

"Ahem, back in Sirius world, are we?" I teased her. At first she looked confused and then understood what I meant. She gave me a hard stare and whacked me on my arm. I laughed and we started walking towards our compartment. Suddenly I realized that I had already seen Remus and Sirius, but not Potter. Sirius Black and James Potter were supposed to be invariably joined at the hip. Where was he?

"Now where are _you_ lost, Lily dear? Meeting someone from your slug club?" Marlene asked me, innocently. I turned around and glared at her and found her trying to suppress a grin. I was exasperated and yearned for some sane company. Where was Alice when I needed her?

Before I could ask Marlene, she informed me that Alice had gone to meet Frank. Perhaps this was what she had been worried about all the while. Was there some kind of trouble in their perfect paradise? It was very unlikely. Alice and Frank were the most _together_ kind of couple I'd ever seen. Since even before they actually got together.

Marlene and I occupied one of the first compartments, so that it would be easy for me to shift to the Heads' compartment towards the end of the journey. I was keyed up about my new responsibility and was highly curious about who my comrade was. Who was the Head Boy? And more importantly, why had Remus avoided the question?

The train gave a loud whistle and started pulling out of the platform, goodbyes and last minute warnings trailing behind us. We'd barely sat down when Alice and Frank entered. I peered at them keenly to see if anything was wrong. Fortunately, nothing seemed amiss. Unfortunately, Alice noticed.

"Lily, why are you looking at me like that?"

"Its nothing. I just realised – you've gotten tanned." As I said it, I realised it was true. The days spent under the sun in Diagon Alley had turned her skin to a beautiful light golden-brown. And I freely admit that I was a teeny bit jealous.

Frank turned to smile at her. "Yeah, she has."

"Oh gawd," said Marlene. "Now she'll start blushing. And smiling. And he'll get that look in his eyes," she drawled.

Alice's face was red – though whether it was because she was blushing or because she was thinking of a way to eliminate Marlene, I couldn't tell. More likely the latter.

Sirius burst into the compartment just as she clenched her wand. Marlene had some lucky stars, I guess.

"Alice!" He beamed. "Its so good to see you," he said, pulling her into a hug. She smiled at him and hugged him back, all the irritation disappearing from her face.

Alice and Sirius had the most beautiful relationship of all. Sirius was extremely protective of Alice, and Alice treated him like she would a younger brother (an adorable one, not the annoying kind of brother or sister most of us have – though what she found so lovable about him, I would never know).

Their relationship was a living and breathing example to the exceptions of the Universe. Arrogant, loud Sirius and mature, quiet Alice – to understand how they became friends was beyond me. Alice was the sole exception to Sirius' cockiness. I envied her greatly. I could have done without six years of Sirius Black's pranks and innuendos and the humiliation that came with them.

They pulled apart, and Sirius looked around the compartment for the first time. He nodded to Frank, who smiled back good-naturedly.

"Hey, Sirius, where's James?" Alice asked, realising he was alone.

I looked at him, waiting for his answer. Seeing him roaming about without his other half was weird.

"Oh, Prongs?" he said, making a show of deliberately withholding information. Then grinned straight at me. "You'll see."

I rolled my eyes, exasperated. He'd been acting the same way at the book store. I was in no mood to figure out why. I stood up, ready to change into my school robes and move to the Head's compartment.

* * *

Potter. _Potter_ was Head Boy. If it hadn't been Dumbledore who chose the Heads, I would have gone and made an enquiry. But it was Dumbledore. I always knew that my Headmaster was slightly off his rocker. However, no matter what crazy decisions he made, I never doubted that they were for the best. But this was by far the most confounding. Potter wasn't even a Prefect!

Through my internal rage, my thoughts went back to the meeting. I'd found Potter sitting in the Head's compartment, as suave as ever. It didn't take me long to put two and two together – Sirius' weird attitude and Potter's presence in the compartment. Sure enough, his Head Boy badge glinted up at me as he turned to face me.

He sat calmly and generously allowed me as much time as I needed to come to terms with my new predicament.

And after I finally did accept this confounding truth, he befuddled me more than ever.

As the Prefects filed in, he went ahead and took control of the meeting right away. His authoritative voice held the attention of every person in the room. When he stepped down to let me take over, I had half a mind to refuse and let him do all the talking, so afraid was I to break his spell – a fact that irritated me to no extent. I'd entered the compartment cool and confident, and here I was, nervous – nervous of taking over and doing as well as _Potter._

I needn't have worried, though. After the initial uneasiness shook off, I just did what I had to do. Then looked at Potter, who nodded at me. Don't ask me _why_ I looked at Potter.

I knew it in my gut that this new and un-Potter-like Potter wouldn't last. I was ready to turn him down the minute he asked me out again. With the immature prankster to work with for the entire year, I knew I was in for a difficult year ahead.


	4. What is the world coming to?

"Oh _Merlin_. I can't believe you're doing this, Lily."

 _Ignore her, Lily, she'll shut up._ We'd been back at Hogwarts for a week. I'd been sharing living quarters with Potter in the Heads' quarters, rather than staying with Alice and Marlene in the Gryffindor dormitory, which I would've very much preferred to do. Not to mention, we had to share a bathroom. Oddly, upon hearing this news, Potter didn't even blink. He just stood there, waiting to hear the rest of the information, while I stared in surprise, waiting for the whooping and wiggling of eyebrows that never came.

 _Well, good for me,_ I thought. _Lets hope he stays this way for the entire year._

The Professors seemed determined to make sure none of the students lasted until the NEWTs by burying them in homework. Which was what I was going to do now. Though, I had to admit, the Heads' Common Room was a much better place for getting work done than the Gryffindor Common Room. Even if I had to settle for sharing living quarters with Potter rather than Alice and Marlene. I yanked Marlene's hand and continued dragging her up the staircase. We were heading towards the Library, and I had to resort to taking Marlene along for company because Alice was busy tutoring with Remus.

"Merlin, Lily. I never thought I'd see the day my own friend, my very own sweet friend Lily, would take me to a library! When I have Quidditch Practice!"

 _You'd have to try harder than that, Marlene._

I pulled her harder.

" _Lily_!"

 _Ignore ignore ignore..._

"Lily, look at me!"

We were almost there...

"God, Lily..." She said in an agonized voice. I kept walking.

I breathed a sigh of relief as the huge front doors to my beloved Library loomed in front of us. The Hogwarts Library was one place where I thought I could spend all of my life in peace. Marlene clawing at my hand, we walked inside. Madam Pince immediately assumed an expression of utmost distaste as her eyes landed on Marlene. She quickly turned away, and Marlene stuck out her tongue behind her back. She'd finally stopped struggling, and instead walked ahead of me, walking over to a table and pulling a chair forward so forcefully you'd have thought it had done her a personal evil. She knotted her arms in front of her.

"Are you gonna sulk, Marlene?" A sulking Marlene was still better than no company at all.

She just scowled.

"Fine by me. Anyway, you're more bearable sulking quietly than when you're talking," I said truthfully, then steeled myself for her sure to be dramatic response. Instead, there was silence. I looked up, surprised, and found her staring over at the opposite side, her jaw on the floor, eyes as wide as saucers.

"Somebody pinch me," She whispered.

I followed her gaze, and my own jaw dropped. I was met with a sight which would have definitely found a place in my _Top 10 Most Impossible Happenings_ list. I blinked several times, checking to see if my vision was working fine. Because there, in front of us, was...was – ahem, ahem – James Potter. Yes, that's right. No, you're not blind. Yes, you read correctly. And yes, the very same James Potter, Head Boy of Hogwarts. That James Potter was in the library.

In the whole of my life at Hogwarts, I had never, _never_ seen either James or Sirius within a 20 metre radius around the library. In fact, I'd doubted they even knew the way. Of course, Remus was entrusted with finding out more and more advanced spells for their freakishly unbelievable pranks. Yes, unbelievable – for as much as the Marauders strutted around like rulers, they were not dumb. I stared in shock for a couple more minutes, then turned around to find Marlene looking at me.

"Did you see what I saw, Lily?"

"If you're talking about the tall, bespectacled guy and current Head Boy sitting a foot away from us, then I think I did, Marlene."

We looked at each other in disbelief. I shook my head, and returned to my book. Well, that was two miracles this week. I dipped my quill into the ink, and started to write. Marlene was staring over at his table again.

"Marlene."

She turned towards me.

"Are you going to stare at Potter the whole evening, or will you actually do something?"

"Yeah, but its just so..." She didn't need to finish her sentence.  
"Weird. I know. Potter in a library."

"Its not just that, Lily. Did you see what he's _doing_?"

I hadn't, actually. I turned to look back again, and almost gasped out loud.

He was _tutoring_.

"He's tutoring. _James_ is tutoring, Lily. He's helping out a first year."

I just nodded, dazed.

I couldn't bring myself to look away. The first year was listening to him so intently, eyes alight with understanding, that Potter could have been telling him a bewitching fairytale instead of giving a Transfiguration lesson. Presently, he picked up a needle, and gently placed it in the boy's hand, motioning for him to try out something – I remembered McGonagall teaching us to turn feathers into needles in First Year. I remembered how Potter had done that, and managed to turn it into a several different things as well, while the class looked on in amazement. The boy merely stared at his hand. I think Potter was trying to encourage him, but he looked hesitant. After a moment, he took the boy's wand, enclosed his fingers around it, and waved it in a simple, yet beautiful wand movement. The boy watched in fascination as the needle turned into a beautiful, yellow-spotted feather. After Potter sat back down, the boy picked up his wand, and turned it back into a needle, looking unsure. He proceeded to change the needle back and forth, growing more confident and delighted with each transformation, with Potter smiled at him encouragingly. I didn't even know he could smile like that. All he'd ever sent my way was his cocksure, supposedly dazzling grin.

A grin I now realised I hadn't seen in weeks. Not that it mattered.

I shook my head, for probably the tenth time that day, and turned to look back at my own table – and I would have started with my essay then and there, except I noticed that Marlene was missing. I checked around the room – she was nowhere to be seen. I was about to go search on the other side of the shelves, when a piece of parchment tucked under my book caught my attention.

I pulled it out and read – it was a note from Marlene.

 _'Dear, dear, dearest Lily,_

 _I'm so very sorry, I just had to go and practice. And, I remembered I'd forgotten to see Jet. You know how he gets if he feels lonely, don't you? I could never forgive myself if he took out his annoyance on you...'_

At this point, I just _had_ to look up and roll my eyes.

'... _I tried to tell you, Lily, I really did, but you were so lost in James!'_

I gasped.

 _'You were staring at him with that dreamy expression...I couldn't bear to pull you out of your pleasant day-dream. The sight of you day-dreaming in a Library is so rare, that I, being the understanding, generous soul that I am, decided not to interrupt, and instead wrote this letter. You can thank me later, dear. Plenty of time for that. Gotta go now before you look back...sorry!_

 _With lots and lots of hugs and kisses,_

 _Your very apologetic friend,_

 _Marlene McKinnon._

 _xoxo_

I threw down the parchment in disbelief. I couldn't believe the nerve of her. _Lost in James?_ Oh, what I was going to do to her...she'll regret she was ever born! And what Quidditch practice did she have when her Captain was sitting in the library? I crumpled the parchment and stashed it inside my bag, too lazy to throw it then.

After a few seconds of staring at the empty seat in front of me, I turned to my essay and finally started working. I kept writing until it was almost curfew, and I was the only one remaining in the library. Scribbling off the last few lines, I hurriedly rolled up the parchment and made my way out, just as Madam Pince threatened to lock me inside.


	5. Sirius' new fad

"I'm bored, Moony," Sirius declared.

I saw Remus' shoulders stiffen. I could understand why. It was never a good thing when Sirius was feeling especially enthusiastic. But a bored Sirius spelled disaster.

So Sirius Black was bored, and Remus and I were the only unfortunate people around. Potter and Marlene were busy serving detention with Professor McGonagall. It was a wonder they'd even lasted without one for two months. And Potter, he wouldn't even have gotten one this time – if it hadn't been for Marlene. That girl and her smart mouth, acting cheeky in front of McGonagall. Potter, like the so-not-Potter person he'd been acting like this year, had gotten a detention defending her. Even I hadn't dared argue with the Professor. A gallant James Potter – it was unsettling. Alice was off somewhere with Frank, and Peter was just missing, as usual.

I tried to make myself as invisible as possible.

Remus buried his nose deeper into his book. I think he wanted to hide too.

"Mooooooonyyyy! I'm talking to _you_!"

Remus ignored him again. I honestly didn't think that was a good move on his part.

Surely enough, Sirius narrowed his eyes, and after 15 seconds, started edging towards Remus. There was no doubt what he was going to do.

"REMUS! Look out – " It was too late.

Sirius had tackled Remus to the floor, holding his book far out of his reach.

 _Well_. He should've known better. I looked at him sympathetically.

" _Pad_ foot! _Give_. Me. My. Book!" Remus said, gritting his teeth.

Sirius grinned at him. Remus lunged for his book, only to have his arm pinned down by Sirius again.

"No way, Moony dear. Books tend to make you dull. Now look at Evans here," He said, gesturing towards me. I raised my head, annoyed. I'd just started to think that maybe he'd leave me alone, after all, since I'd managed to keep myself out of their...er, conversation, until now.

"The perfect example of what could happen to you if you study too much. To be frank, Moony, I think I'm the only reason you haven't joined Evans and gone over the edge to insanity yet." He paused here, clearly expecting me to retaliate. I refused to give him the satisfaction.

Remus snorted.

"If I ever do become insane, Sirius, I can assure you you'll be the sole reason for it."

"Whatever you say, Moony. Deep down your heart, you know you admire my brilliance and knightliness. You wouldn't be anywhere without me."

Remus didn't even bother responding to this one. I think he'd heard of Sirius' self proclaimed greatness too many times.

"Sure, Padfoot. Now give me my book."

Ha. _As if_.

"Only if you agree to come to Hogsmeade with me, Moony. We have to get supplies from Zonko's."

Remus groaned. I couldn't keep quiet any longer.

"No way, Black. You're NOT going out of the school on my watch." I tried to glare as threateningly as possible. It had no effect, of course.

"And," I continued before he could protest. "Its too early. You'll definitely be seen."

"Oh, – " He began, but Remus cut him off. There was no doubt what he was going to say. _Oh, I'm Sirius Black. Getting caught? Nah._

"She's right, Sirius. We _can't_ go out right now. Its broad daylight. We can't risk it."

My knight in shining armor, that's Remus. I smiled at him gratefully. Sirius, on the other hand, looked scandalized.

"MOONY!" He gasped, clutching at his heart. "You've astounded me. Refusing a stroll in Hogsmeade is one thing. But fraternizing with the enemy?!"

"I'm not fraternizing with the enemy, Sirius. All I said was – "

" _'She's right, Sirius. We can't go out right now. Lets do everything Lily says. Lily is the smartest. Why don't we all listen to Lily?'"_ He said, in an extremely good imitation of Remus.

I couldn't help it – I stifled a laugh.

"What was that, then?" He demanded.

"I didn't even say half of that, you dolt!" Remus exclaimed.

"Sure you didn't."

Remus opened his mouth, undoubtedly to give a good retort, but then seemed to change his mind.

All of a sudden, as though struck by an unbelievably awesome idea, he brightened.

"Sirius..." He began slowly.

Sirius waited for him to continue, and when he didn't, he snapped.

" _What_ , Moony?"

Remus smiled at him, and he grew confused. Ah. For _once_. Remus deserved a Noble Prize.

He cleared his throat.

"Um, aren't you forgetting something?"

"What, Moony?" Sirius repeated.

"Its seventeenth today, Padfoot," Remus said, as though expecting Sirius to suddenly catch on.

Sirius just stared, as if trying to remember something.

"Um, was something supposed to happen today?"

"Sirius, when was your issue of the you-know-what about the you-know-what going to come? And weren't you supposed to keep a sample ready to send back?"

Sirius jumped up so fast, I thought he might have pulled a muscle. Remus' book lay forgotten on the floor; I could see him eying it already. And then, before I could blink, Sirius had vanished behind the door of the Seventh year boys' dormitory.

"Whoa," I let out a breath.

I'd been staring after him for a whole minute. By now, I was extremely curious to find out what it was that had made Sirius change moods so quickly.

"Remus, what was the...you-know-what about the you-know-what? If you don't mind me asking," I added hastily.

He looked uncomfortable.

"Er, its not my place to tell, Lily. Sirius – "

"Its okay, I understand. I'll ask Sirius." Who would read his whole Potions book before telling me anything. Remus seemed to realize this too.

"Well, good luck with that," he shrugged. Then, without waiting for another second, he proceeded to reach for his book and continue reading where he left off – because the Common Room was a perfect place for reading once Potter and Black were removed.


	6. Of Marauders and Ticklish Charms

I settled into my usual place next to Alice, thankfully away from Potter and Black's paper throwing session over Remus' head.

Professor McGonagall marched into the room, her arms full of books. Sirius' paper plane landed right at her feet. She looked up, annoyed. Trust Black to get on the her nerves before class even started.

"Honestly, Black, I've met five-year olds with more sense than you."

Don't ask me how she knew it was him; she just did. Sirius frowned.

" _Five_ -year olds, Professor? In your neighborhood? No wonder you're so– "

"Shut up, Black," She snapped. "And would you like me to take out your wands for you?" She barked at the rest of the class, who were already leaning over their benches, eager to witness how Sirius would land himself in detention this time. She waited for the sounds of feet shuffling, chairs scraping, and zippers being opened to die down, then turned to her table. She reached into a cage behind her and pulled out a tiny-looking owl.

"Now that you have all more or less managed to Vanish your mice, we shall be proceeding with Vanishing birds, an entirely more difficult task. I assume you all know why that is?" The class remained silent. She looked over at Potter, who was in an entirely other world, busily storing paper-planes carefully under his desk.

"Mr. Potter?"

I smirked internally; there was no Remus sitting behind him to help him out this time – he'd moved to sit with Marlene on the far end of the room.

"He's busted," Alice muttered next to me, and I nodded. "I doubt he's even heard the question," I whispered.

James pushed his chair back and stood up, his stance the picture of confidence.

"Well, Professor, its because Vanishing spells become more difficult with the complexity of the animal to be Vanished. Vanishing a snail, an invertebrate, is easier than Vanishing mice – which are mammals. An owl is a more complex creature than a mouse – hence more difficult to Vanish," he said.

"That's right, Mr. Potter. Five points to Gryffindor. You may sit down," She said, looking pleased.

My heart sank.

"I can't believe it!" said Alice. I could, though.

That was the thing with Potter. He and Black were the kind of annoying pricks that Professors would always call on thinking they weren't paying attention, but they would always know the answer. It was _so damn unfair_. How could he be lost in paper planes and then automatically recite the answer when a question was asked? _How?_

"The instructions are simple," McGonagall continued. "You all know the incantation – a bit more concentration is all that's required. _Keep your birds in place_ – I don't want any owls flying around, landing on my head or shoulder while I work. Remember – "

"Why...are you ticklish, Professor?" Sirius asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

James sniggered – as did most of the class.

McGonagall's eyes flashed so dangerously, I thought she would have reduced Sirius to ashes if she could.

"That's enough, Mr. Black. And you can shut up now, Mr. Potter," she said in a voice so low, it was a miracle how everyone in the room could hear. The class quietened down at once, though Potter covered his mouth with his hands and bent his head, still shaking with laughter. McGonagall looked like she'd beat them both with a broomstick if she could. I'd have loved to join her.

"Sorry, Professor," Sirius said, absolutely no trace of remorse in his voice. He met her glare with a grin. I couldn't believe his guts – I would have been red with embarrassment and cowering in my seat if that glare had been directed at me. She threw one last unsavory look in his direction and turned to her desk.

"Close your textbooks, all of you. You would only need your wand for today's lesson," she said, settling down in her chair, a stack of parchments on the desk before her.

The room was immediately filled with sounds of voices murmuring the incantation, the occasional hoots of the owls as they were prodded and poked by the students. I struggled with my owl for nearly twenty minutes, without succeeding in making a single feather Vanish. Next to me, Alice, who'd gotten a far more rebellious owl, was busy trying to avoid getting pecked. I saw Potter lazily wave his wand, and his owl Vanished without a trace. UNFAIR, that's what it was. I wanted to stomp my foot in frustration. A second later, his eyes lit up. He muttered something to Sirius, who then grinned at him, and clapped him on the back. Together, they pointed their wands at Peter's owl – the poor bloke, who was already struggling with getting the wand-movement right, looked positively horrified as his owl suddenly started changing color, then proceeded to twitch and twist frantically on his desk, hooting loudly. Potter and Black roared with laughter.

McGonagall looked up.

"He's so dead," said Alice, in a low voice. "He isn't doing it, Alice, its Potter – look!" I pointed.  
"PETTIGREW! What do you think you're doing?" she said, rising and striding towards him. He trembled from head to foot.

"I didn't do anything, Professor!" he squeaked frightfully, going red in the face. "I swear!"

"Please, Pro- Professor," said James, choking on laughter, while Sirius chortled next to him. "It was," – laughter, "– me, I" –more laughter," – "tickling charm, Professor..." he said, finally doubling over and roaring with laughter, along with Sirius. Looking at them, I couldn't stop the smile that crept onto my face. Most of the class was sniggering by now.

McGonagall's nostrils flared, and her mouth became a very thin line.

" _Out_ , Potter. And you, Black. Get out of my class _right this instant_. Ten points from Gryffindor, five from each of you. I'll discuss your detention with you later. OUT!" She barked.

They hurriedly got out of their seats, looking extremely pink by now, and scrambled out of the classroom, still chuckling uncontrollably. She turned to Peter, and raised her wand.

"Please, Professor, I didn't do anything, Professor!" he yelped, eying her wand and putting his hands in front of his face.

"Shut up, you silly boy," she snapped. "I'm merely trying to put your owl right!" Peter lowered his arms and sank into his seat, still looking fearful. She restored the owl to its original state, and marched back to her table just as the bell rang.

"I want you all to successfully Vanish an owl by next class, or risk losing another ten points," she said, her eyes glinting maliciously behind her glasses. Not one soul dared to argue. Everyone proceeded to pack their bags, as quickly and quietly as possible, eager to get out of the classroom. Marlene and I were, as usual, the last people to leave. The good, punctual Alice had already left with Frank. I was following Marlene out of the classroom, when McGonagall called me back.

"Yes, Professor?" I said, wary – she was in a bad mood, after all. She handed me a note she'd been scribbling.

"These are the timings for Mr. Potter and Mr. Black's detentions. Would you hand it over to them?"

"Of course, Professor." Who was I to refuse?

She nodded. "Thank you, Ms. Evans. And you may also remind Mr. Potter that he is, indeed, the _Head Boy_. You may go now."

Like hell I'd remind Potter that he's Head Boy. I'd never hear the end of it. But of course I didn't say that. I thanked her, and walked out of the classroom as quickly as I could to catch up with Marlene.

"What did she want?" she asked, once I'd reached her.

"I've got to deliver a detention note to Potter," I said, handing her my bag. "Take this with you, wherever you're going – I've got to go to the Gryffindor Tower."

"All right, I'll be at the Owlery," she said, slinging my bag over her shoulder. "Come up there once you're done."

I smiled. "Going to see Jet?" I said, knowingly.

She grinned. "What do you think?"

"That you will marry him someday, if it was up to you."

She laughed. "I wish. Go, and come fast, Lily," she said, already on her way.

Five minutes later, I entered the Common Room and walked towards where three of the Marauders were seated around a round table, Remus and Sirius munching on extremely delicious looking roasted potatoes and Potter gulping down pumpkin juice. I had long given up on finding out how they managed to get their hands on so much food whenever they wanted.

I reached out and tapped Potter on the shoulder.

"Oh, look who's here!" Sirius exclaimed. "Need something, Lily Flower?" he said, winking. You wouldn't believe he'd just been kicked out of class. "We're not sharing any of this with you, if that's what you want," he added, holding up his potato. I rolled my eyes and turned to Potter, ignoring him completely. It took quite an effort.

"I need to talk to you, Potter."

He set his goblet down, and looked at me. "Well?"

I looked at Sirius' curious face, and added, "Alone." Then immediately bit my tongue. I waited for the innuendos Potter was sure to send across. Nothing came. I looked at Potter, checking to make sure he was still there. He was, and he was looking at me questioningly.

"Aha!" exclaimed Sirius, shaking his finger at me as if suddenly enlightened. "Alone time with Prongs! Well, you could have asked, Lily Flower! We'd be quite happy to let you borrow him! Isn't that so, Moony?" he said, looking at Remus, who simply smiled at me apologetically and continued munching. Yeah, I know, very apologetic indeed.

James clapped Sirius on the head, knocking over his pumpkin juice in the process.

The juice spread, staining the tablecloth, and drowning Sirius' potatoes. He groaned. " _Prongs_ , you idi – "

"Oh, _no,_ Padfoot. Whatever will you do now?" Potter said, grinning, and looking at his own empty plate meaningfully, as if to say, _good thing I already finished mine._ Sirius glared at him, and then shrugged.

"I'll just share Moony's," he said, simply.

Remus instantly put a hand around his plate, scowling at Sirius. "Yeah, right."

Sirius put an arm around his neck, looked around at Potter and said, "See? I told you so. Moony is a generous soul." Remus threw off his arm.

"No way, Padfoot. Do what you like."

I could practically hear the danger bells ringing. That was something you never said to Sirius Black; this I knew from past experience.

"Oh?" Sirius said, a slow smile spreading across his face.

 _Uh-oh._

He scrambled up noisily, stood up on his chair, and proclaimed in a loud voice, "Ladies and gentlemen, meet the selfish, potato-stealing marauder, Remus Lupin!" gesturing towards Remus with both hands. Several people looked up and rolled their eyes, like they expected something something like this to happen everyday; while several other girls looked on and smiled winningly at Sirius like he'd just related the best joke of the world.

Potter sniggered, and I smiled, in spite of myself.

Remus looked around at the gaping students in different corners of the Common Room, and turned back to Sirius, going red. Sirius continued speaking.

"Remus – or Moony, here, you would find, is quite the – oh, now he blushes – "

"Sirius," Remus cut him off, in a low voice.

"Yes, dear Moony?" answered Sirius sweetly, in a voice ten times louder. Remus grimaced.

"For Merlin's sake, get down," he said, almost pleading.

"That won't work, Moony," Potter whispered in Remus' ear – and he was quite right. Sirius grinned at Remus hugely. He opened his mouth to say something else, when Remus caught his leg and blurted, "All right, you can have my dish! Just get down!"

Sirius cocked his head, put a hand behind his ear and said, "Sorry, Moony, I didn't quite catch that."

"I said you can have my dish, you prat," Remus said, gritting his teeth. "Get _down_!"

"All right, don't shout! I swear, you're getting more and more like a teenage girl day by day," he said, as he jumped and plopped back down onto his seat. Remus gave him a very dirty look.

"I hate you, Padfoot."

"I love you too, darling."

Remus glared at him heatedly. Merlin, they were so much like an old married couple. Potter grinned at them fondly; that grin made such a good difference to his face, making his eyes look like twinkling hazelnuts; I couldn't help but wonder why I'd never noticed this before. Then he turned to me, and gestured towards the door.

"You had something to say?"

"Oh, yeah," I said, almost having forgotten why I'd willingly walked into the middle of these lunatics. I looked over at Sirius – he was happily engrossed in devouring Remus' potatoes.

"Lets go," I said, and started walking away as quickly as possible, hoping to make it outside before I had the misfortune of hearing any more suggestive comments. Given my luck, that was impossible, of course.

"All the best, Prongs! Have fun!" Sirius shouted out behind us.

I climbed out hastily, Potter following immediately after.

"I'm sorry about Sirius," he said, as soon as we were outside.

 _Since when?_ I wondered.

"Its all right, Potter. I feel really sorry for Remus, though," I said, truthfully.

He laughed.

"Don't pity him, Lily. He's not the innocent soul everyone thinks he is. He'll get back at Sirius before the day is over, in his own way. He's a marauder for a reason."

I snorted. "I don't doubt it. There's no way he could've stuck stuck around with you guys otherwise," I said, fully believing it.

"Why, thank you!" he said, looking pleased like I'd just paid him a compliment.

"Shut up, Potter. Now, before I forget – " I said, reaching into my robe pocket and pulling out the note, " – this is from McGonagall. For yours and Sirius' detention. She asked me to give it to you." _Oh, and, by the way, don't forget you're Head Boy,_ I added, internally.

He took the note and crumpled it after reading it.

"You could've given this in front of Sirius," he said, questioningly. "Was there something else?"

"No, nothing. I just wanted to tick him off. He was curious to know what I had to say." And look how well that tuned out.

Potter laughed.

"Well, don't try that again. It'll never work."

"Yeah, I gathered as much," I said, resignedly. "Well, I'll get going, Potter. Tell Sirius about the detention."

He nodded. "See you, Lily," he said, and climbed back in. I started hurrying towards the Owlery, where Marlene would no doubt be waiting to ask if I'd fallen asleep or died on the way.


	7. A knot comes loose

"Potter, you have finally and completely lost your marbles," I deadpanned.

He had that idiotic grin on his face again, looking like he couldn't think of a more exciting prospect.

"You want to go flying, right now, after hours, in the pouring rain?"

"Lily, just _look_ outside!" he whined, needlessly though; I was already staring outside.

"Exactly, Potter. _Look_ outside. And come to your senses." _If you have any._

He huffed. I might have found it adorable if I wasn't worried about his mental condition.

"Fine."

What?

"What do you mean 'what'?"

I didn't realize I'd said that aloud.

"I won't let you be a spoilsport, Evans. If you don't want to come, I'm going. Flying is joy, Evans. And flying in the rain is _life_."

"Dramatic much?"

He responded by rolling his eyes.

"I'm leaving. And as a fellow human being, would you at _least_ give me a signal – I don't know, light your wand near the window or something – if you see Filch or McGonagall approaching?"

"Fine. But if you get caught anyway, _I'm_. Not. Responsible."

"Whatever, Evans."

He dashed up the stairs, returned with his broomstick, waved to me and climbed out of the Portrait hole.

 _Well, that was quick._

I returned to the book in my lap – _To Kill A Mockingbird –_ which I was reading for the umpteenth time, but realized after a while that I hadn't gotten past five lines in twenty minutes.

Instead, for some inexplicable reason, my eyes kept settling on the barely visible figure outside the window doing loop-the-loops over the Quidditch Pitch.

 _He's crazy, completely and utterly bonkers,_ I decided.

I pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind, and finally got working on my essay.

I'd barely been writing for 10 minutes, when there was a distant clap of thunder, the loudest yet. Potter was _still_ outside.

* * *

Later, I never could figure out what made me put on my coat and shoes and step out onto the Quidditch Pitch. Maybe it was Potter's craziness rubbing off on me, or maybe I was finally cracking under the pressure of the NEWTs myself. But I was on my way to join James Potter.

I stopped at a distance from where he was flying. I took in the sight of him, soaked through the skin, bracing against the rain, the wind whipping his hair back. And I'd never envied him more than I did in that moment. He was a picture of joy – he looked like he didn't have a care in the world, and just wanted to enjoy the moment as much as possible. I wished a broomstick could make me forget the world like that.

I decided to leave before he saw me. I could do with avoiding the inevitable 'Why, Evans, couldn't you even resist seeing me for that long?' and that stupid grin. No such luck.

Just as I turned to leave, he noticed me.

"Hey, LILY! LILY!"

I turned around. He zoomed towards me.

 _Damn._ I started mentally preparing myself for the taunt that never came.

Looking into his hazel eyes right then was like looking directly into a bright light.

"Care to join me?" He asked, extending his hand.

I stared at his hand, then looked back at him, disbelieving.

"No way in hell, Potter. I just came to call you back inside, because Filch is on the way."

Even I could see he didn't believe me.

"Filch is in his office, Evans. Trust me, I would know."

 _How would he know?_

He didn't draw back his hand.

"I'm a terrible flier, Potter. I think I'll just go inside. And we might get caught..." I protested feebly.

"We won't get caught, Evans. You're with me." Oh, _of course,_ I thought sarcastically _._ "And I'll be the one doing the flying. You'll just be sitting on the broom."

"Potter..." But he was already lifting me onto his broom. I can't say I put up a real fight.

He took off into the air, and I held on to him for dear life.

It was exhilarating. For the first few minutes, the strongest urge I had was to scream, to get back to the ground where I could finally be safe. Potter seemed to sense my edginess.

"Calm down, Lily!" He yelled over the roaring in my ears. "I won't let you fall!"

And I found myself trusting him. All of a sudden, I could breathe easier, and the feel of the wind whipping against my face excited me. I hadn't felt this alive in _months_. I raised my face up towards the skies, welcoming the cool raindrops. Within seconds, I was soaked to the bone too, and I was past caring.

All too soon, like all good things, it came to an end. We started descending; the rain had stopped a few minutes back.

I clumsily got off the broomstick, my legs feeling weak.

Potter laughed good-naturedly at my state.

"Still think Quidditch is useless, Lily?" He asked smugly.

I refused to respond, and instead proceeded to dry us both off.

"We'd better get back, James...its really late."

His eyes seemed to widen in surprise, but I was too tired to wonder why.

"Er, sure, Lily. Come on."

I followed him to the Head's Room. Surprisingly, and thankfully, we didn't meet any teachers on the way. We were lucky.

Once we were in our Common Room, I took off my coat and shoes, and directly went and sat next to the fire; I was cold, though James looked like he'd been on a morning walk, and not out flying hundreds of feet above the ground in the rain.

"Well, good night then, Lily," he said, and turned towards the stairs.

"James?" I said, suddenly.

He turned around, halfway up the stairs already.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you. For tonight. I don't think I've had that much fun in ages," I said, hesitantly, finally getting the words off my chest.

"Anytime, Lily," he smiled. "Good Night."

With that, he climbed up the rest of the staircase, and closed the door to his room.


	8. Of thestrals and prudes

I entered the Great Hall with Marlene, just in time for breakfast.

Alice, sitting between Frank and James, looked up from her half-eaten sandwich and gave us a look which pretty much said ' _late again, as always_ '.

"What?" I said, somewhat sheepish.

"Nothing. Just try to chew your food instead of inhaling it as usual."

She spared a glance at Marlene, who was already blissfully lost in her cheese and bacon. She just rolled her eyes, and returned to her sandwich.

I began wolfing down my breakfast (or inhaling it, as Alice would put it), except I was rudely interrupted by a certain Sirius Black.

"What?" I snapped.

"Whoa, calm down, Evans. What's got you into a twist on such a fine morning?"

"Get to the point, Sirius. I'd like to finish my breakfast before the feast is over."

He didn't respond, and instead began digging into his bag, searching for who knew what.

"AHA!" He exclaimed triumphantly, resurfacing a few seconds later.

He held up a worn piece of parchment.

"Remember this, Evans?"

I stared at the parchment.

"Um, how about you explain?"

"Why, its the signed document about our bet!"

Oh, right. The bet. A stupid bet Marlene had struck up with him, about whether Thestrals had wings to fly or to glide. I hadn't even known there was a difference.

"Sure there's a difference!" they'd exclaimed, after I'd voiced my doubts. "You fly on a broomstick, and you glide on a broomstick. If you move freely in air, you're flying; and if you go smoothly along, you're gliding. Gliding's way more fun," Marlene had said, while Sirius nodded in agreement. "Wow. I knew something Evans didn't," he added, earning himself an eye-roll.

Turns out the Thestrals flew, which meant we had lost.

"Black, I'm pretty sure – " Marlene began, but was interrupted by owls swooping in.

We watched as a handsome, tawny one made her way toward her. He dropped a wrapped package, almost right in the middle of her bacon.

Sirius, James and I eyed it curiously. Alice was in deep conversation with Frank and Remus was talking to Peter about something which sounded suspiciously like carrots.

Marlene reached out and opened the package, and let out a near hysterical squeal of delight. I couldn't blame her. The box was filled with Honeyduke's best chocolate.

But why did Sirius look like Christmas had come early?

"Well, that's settled, then."

"Um, _what_ is settled?" Marlene asked.

I didn't like the look on his face.

"Our bet, of course. You see, I'm quite a compromising person. Instead of paying me back in galleons, you could simply share that with me."

I scoffed.

"In your dreams, Black," Marlene said.

"Well, all right."

And he sat back down.

Marlene and I looked at each other questioningly, suspicious of his giving in so easily. James, I noticed, was looking at Sirius knowingly.

That was when we turned back to get the chocolates and found them missing.

"SIRIUS BLACK!" Marlene screeched.

Alice and Remus finally looked up from their conversation to see what the fuss was about. W _ell, good morning to you,_ I thought. James laughed out loud.

I watched Marlene watch Sirius licking his bar of chocolate, oblivious to the world. Her features twisted into an oh-so-familiar expression. I wasn't the only one to notice, though. But before James could warn him, Marlene had pounced upon Sirius, in very brave attempt at snatching the chocolate. Unfortunately, all she _did_ accomplish was landing at his feet, in a very undignified position at that. Sirius had stepped out of her way just in time (owing to Quidditch reflexes, I'm sure).

He smirked at her, while she glared at him – though it couldn't have been effective because he only smiled wider.

"Why, McKinnon, are you trying to jump me?" He began, in that obnoxious tone of his. "All you had to do was ask, and I'm all yours," he said, spreading his arms and getting down on his knee – all the while holding the chocolate out of reach. Smart bloke.

 _Wait, I did NOT just call Sirius Black smart. No way. Thank goodness Marlene can't hear my treacherous thoughts._

Marlene picked herself up, clearly flustered.

"Only in your sick mind, Black. _Give me my chocolates!"_

"Or what?"

"Or...or – oh, sod it! I'll get you for this, Black, even if it takes the rest of my life!"

He smirked wider, if that was even possible.

She stormed out of the Hall, breakfast apparently forgotten. That melodramatic girl.

Alice, ever the peace maker, picked up her bag and left after her, after a quick goodbye to Frank.

Sirius sat back down, triumphant. I didn't fail to notice, though, that he wasn't making quite as big a show of licking his chocolate, now that Marlene wasn't there.

"You just love getting a rise out of her, don't you?" I asked, exasperated.

"What are you talking about, Lily Flower?" he asked, innocently.

" _Don't_ call me _Flower_. And, whether you accept it or not, I _have_ noticed that you go out of your way to annoy her. Why, do you think?"

He smirked. "She's colourful when she's annoyed." _Colourful?_ "Also, I can't annoy Alice, because, well, I can't – she just doesn't take the bait. And you, Evans, I have no problem annoying, as long as you don't have a wand to point in my face."

I rolled my eyes. "Will you ever grow up, Sirius?"

He shrugged, and grinned. "No need. One grown up Lily Evans is enough for the Universe. Not everyone has to be a stuck-up goody-two-shoes."

I gasped in protest. "I am _not_ stuck-up! Or goody-two-shoes. That's Alice!"

"Yeah, right. How many detentions have you gotten?"

"I– "

"Ever skived off classes?"

I glared at him.

"Have you ever tasted Firewhiskey, Evans?"

"Yes! When – "

"Willingly."

I pursed my lips. He leaned closer.

"Ever been to Hogsmeade outside of the regular trips?"

I gasped yet again. "You can't even do that!"

He smirked. _Oh, Merlin, so that's where they got all the Firewhiskey!_

"See what I mean?"

I kept glaring. "I am _not_ a stuck up prude, Black," I said, snatching up Marlene's bag, along with mine, and making my way out along with Remus and James before he could respond.  
-

I was looking at the Lake, a steaming mug of coffee in my hands, and wondering what it would be like to drown myself in it, so I'd never have to face my NEWTs, which were coming nearer with every passing day. What if I failed and ended up unemployed? Maybe I could camp out with the Giant squid – once I convinced him not to eat me, that is. Then we could go swimming out into the sunset, and under the starry night...

"Oi, EVANS!"

I jumped, and my poor dear cup of coffee went tumbling to the floor, the hot liquid soaking my robes.

Before fixing Black with my most withering glare, I bent down to pick up the broken pieces of my cup.

"Make yourself useful for once, Black, and help me clean this up!" I snapped, annoyed.

Sirius was standing off to the side, watching me as if I was carrying out a never-before-tried-out experiment.

He cleared his throat, and then, as if he was talking to a toddler, said, "You are a witch, Evans, you know that right?"

Oh, _of course_. I mentally kicked myself.

" _Reparo,_ " I muttered, pointing my wand at the glass pieces and holding up my now repaired cup.

"This better be something good, Black," I said, with what little dignity I had. I wanted to go back to being alone so I could continue with my moping. And he'd lost me my coffee!

"Aw, don't get so huffy, Evans. No lasting damage done."

I opened my mouth to retort, but he didn't give me the chance.

"Would you care to join us for a game of Truth and Dare?"

Truth and dare? And Sirius was inviting me?

"Um, when, Sirius?"

"This Saturday, which is tomorrow, in the Common Room."

It was usually just Marlene, and sometimes Alice, who hung out with James and Sirius, since I liked to catch up on my homework instead. And even the most innocent Marauder parties unquestionably had something to do with illegal stuff. Which was why I felt myself grow wary.

"Are you sure its going to be just truth and dare, Sirius?"

"Yep," he said, in a way that made it sound like that was definitely not the case.

"An innocent game of Truth and Dare, plain and simple, – "

I scoffed.

"– with a bit of a twist, and some Firewhiskey and Butterbeer."

There. They must have made a trip to Hogsmeade again.

"No way, Black. No Firewhiskey," I said, firmly.

"Oh, come _on_ , Evans. I thought you said you weren't a prude?"

I glared at him.

"All right, maybe Firewhiskey is too much, – "

I glared some more.

"– but we're only going take a few drops! Aw, come _on,_ Evans..."

"How did James agree to this? He's the Head Boy, for Merlin's sake! What if Professor McGonagall finds out?"

"That was an insult, Evans. You're hanging out with Sirius Black, Marauder extraordinaire, and you're worried about getting caught?" He said, pointing to himself dramatically.

I tried and failed to look unamused. And okay, maybe he had a point (Not that I was going to tell him that). James and Sirius _were_ pretty reliable when it came to breaking rules safely.

He seemed to realize he was making a headway, because he continued,

"Our best friend, goody-two-shoes Alice, is coming too!"

" _Alice?"_

"Yes, Evans, Alice. With Frank," he added.

"So you, James, Remus, Marlene, Alice..." I had to admit, that didn't sound like such a bad group.

"Its just one night, Lily. It'd be a _lot_ of fun. And Alice might feel lonely without you...would you do that to her?"

Now he was emotionally black-mailing me. That evil guy.

And yet...what if I let go for just one night? And these were my closest friends I would be hanging out with, not a bunch of strangers.

I sighed, knowing I was going to give in anyway.

"Well, all right, maybe – Oh, get that smug look off your face!" I said, a bit miffed to see that he could barely control his grin.

"This day will go down in history, Evans. Lily Evans agrees to Truth and Dare with the Marauders, _knowing there would be Firewhiskey!_ " He said, with the air of a news reader announcing the arrival of a comet.

I rolled my eyes.

"Firewhiskey in feasible quantities, Sirius. _No one_ is getting drunk."

"Remind me again why I invited you, Evans?" he said, tiredly.

"Because the five of you together in one place couldn't possibly manage without me! You'd end up killing each other, or yourselves," I grinned up at him.

"Of course. Right," he said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, see you at around eight tomorrow. Don't be late, or you'll miss out on all the fun..." He trailed off suggestively.

Yeah, right. He left, with a stupid grin still on his face.

Surprisingly, I didn't feel like moping anymore. Instead of returning to my seat by the window, I settled down on a couch with three rolls of parchment, my Potions book, and a quill. Might as well get as much work done today if I was going to be spending my evening with a bunch of retards tomorrow.


	9. The stupid shared bathroom

I woke up the next morning, my insides burning with hunger and my eyes still glued together. I'd gotten merely one hour of sleep, thanks to the Sherlock Holmes novel I'd started reading late in the evening. I dragged myself to the door, and made my way to the Bathroom, my eyes half closed the entire time. I was never staying up reading again.

"Oomph!" I was lying flat on my back, stars dancing in front of me. Within seconds, I was imagining scenarios involving me punching the _thing_ I'd collided against with my bare, hands even if my fists broke. I bit my tongue to keep from spewing out the most colourful profanity. Forcing my eyes open, I glanced up at – _James Potter?_

James Potter, who was currently laughing his head off.

A James Potter who was currently half naked.

My eyes, refusing to open a minute ago, widened like they'd never get the chance to open again.

Because, Merlin, James Potter was _hot_.

As in, suck-out-your-air, punch-you-in-the-gut, sculpted-to-perfection hot. I stared up at him, curses stuck in my throat. I'd never seen a piece of artwork like that before. I thanked my lucky stars for the fact that he couldn't read my mind.

He'd stopped laughing now, and was staring down at me with an amused grin.

"Planning to get up, Evans?"

His voice tore through my thoughts, thoughts I'd have never believed the Lily Evans mind was capable of producing, and snatched me back down to Earth. My temper came flooding back.

I stared at the hand he'd extended, and brushed it off as hard as I could.

At least, I tried to brush it off.

What I actually managed to do was miss my target badly and land flat on my face.

I sat up, intending to curse the world, when my eyes fell on James, also on the floor – on the floor because he was rolling about laughing, arms across his stomach, holding his sides. I glared at him, a scowl etched upon my face. He laughed and laughed – head tipped back, eyes watering – and the frown slipped off my face, much as I tried to hold on to it. Instead, the corners of my lips turned up into a disinclined smile.

Presently his laughter subsided, and he simply looked at me, as if looking at an especially amusing insect for the first time. Then he stood up in one fluid motion, and made to help me as I tried to pick myself up off the floor. I pulled back my arm and punched him hard as I could – just because I was smiling didn't mean I wasn't angry – then immediately regretted it.

" _Ow!_ " Merlin, had I just punched the very thing that'd sent me crashing to the floor?

The idiot was laughing again.

I stood up (finally) and walked to the sink. I splashed water across my face, and then looked up to see James' reflection smirking at me.

"Will you get out, James?"

His smirk widened into a grin. "You do realise you just paid me a huge compliment, right?"

I scowled. Genuinely this time.

 _In your dreams, Potter._

"I'm not too proud to accept the facts," I said. Then gave myself a tight mental slap.

"Sure you aren't," he said. Then he made his way towards the door, closing it behind him. I shook my head, and got ready to brush my teeth.

"Oh, and Evans?" I turned around; there he was again, holding the door open just enough to poke his head inside. "You look very adorable in the morning," he said, looking right at me.

I stared at him, then – I don't know why – broke eye contact. When I looked back at him, he grinned at me, then shut the door again.

I turned back the mirror. Somehow, the way he'd said it, like he was merely stating a fact, it sounded so genuine.

I shook my head. Potter. This was Potter we were talking about. Potter, who flirted with anything in a skirt.

 _When was the last time I saw him flirting?_

I grabbed my brush and thrust toothpaste upon it. Why was I even standing and thinking about this? It was a stupid compliment. I should just thank him and be done with it!

I went on to take a shower, all the sleep having left my eyes.

* * *

We were gathered in the boys' Gryffindor dormitory, ready for the game of Truth and Dare after an exhausting day of classes. Sirius was sitting on the armchair – or, well, sitting wouldn't be the right word for it. He was flat on his back, his head hanging down over one arm with his hair almost touching the floor, and his feet dangling over the other. James was lying comfortably on the vase he'd transfigured into a couch, hands behind his head and feet one on top of the other, in the air, almost touching Remus' head who was sitting on the edge of the couch – he barely had enough space to sit, what with James' long legs taking up most of the space. He didn't seem to notice this at all, though; he looked like it was completely normal.

 _It must be_ , I thought. He'd shared a dorm with them for six years now. I truly felt sorry for him.

"Where's Marlene, Lily? And those love-birds?" James asked, his head still turned towards the opposite side, fingers twirling his wand absently.

"I dunno about Marlene, James...her detention should've been over by now. Alice had gone with Frank to the owlery to send a letter...they should be here any minute," I said, wondering what was taking them so long.

James reply was cut off as a speeding figure burst through the Portrait Hole. Marlene raced over to me, tripping and tumbling the whole way, and grabbed my shoulders.

"You wouldn't _believe_ what just happened, Lily," she said, gasping, trying to catch her breath.

"Marlene, what – "

"I saw Lestrange swoon."

All right, this one had me stumped. I always expected the unexpected from Marlene, but this was _really_ unexpected, even by her standards. I saw Remus' jaw drop.

"You're exaggerating, Marlene," he said.

"I am _not_ , Remus. Bellatrix Black asked him out. And he..." She shuddered.

"You should have seen it...he grew dreamy-eyed...and...ugh – I can't get the image out of my head. He actually staggered, Lily...he swooned. He looked like a goddess was asking him, Lily...Oh gosh...oh gosh oh gosh oh gosh...Lily, I wish I could have used your muggle camera and recorded it!"

I decided there was no point in telling her then that muggle electronic devices didn't work in Hogwarts.

She finally turned from me and took note of James and Sirius, who'd been listening to her intently, apparently as stupefied as I was. Sirius, though, had lost some of that relaxed demeanor of his. It figured, since this was his cousin we were talking about.

"Bella's liked Lestrange since she was seven, Marlene. Since he started coming over to our house for those pure-blood get-togethers. It was Rodolphus _this_ and Rodolphus _that._ He was the only one she thought was sick enough to complement her. I didn't know it was worse on the other side. Stupid git deserves her," Sirius said, his forehead furrowing in irritation.

This was the first time I'd heard Sirius talk about somebody other than Severus with genuine dislike. Marlene probably noticed this too.

"Hmm...probably...but I'm scarred for life! The mental image! I can't get it out of my head!" She said, looking pained. I could see right through her attempts to lighten the atmosphere. It seemed to work, though.

"Is _that_ what you're worried about? Its easy," Sirius said with a grin, scrambling off his armchair. He walked over to the table on the opposite corner and returned with a bottle of...Firewhiskey. _No way_.

"Sirius...?" I began, in a seemingly sweet voice.

"Yes, love?"

I hated that term of endearment. I ignored it, though.

"Put that bottle down right now, or I wouldn't hesitate to take points from my own House."

"Oh, go ahead, darling Evans. I'd love to see you try."

Resisting the urge to stamp my foot, I turned to tell Marlene off for not refusing Sirius herself, but stopped short at the sight of her happily taking small sips of the blasted drink, sitting on the arm of Sirius' chair.

" _Marlene!_ "

She jumped.

" _Close_ it!"

 _Oh Merlin, why did I even agree to come here?_ I wondered regretfully, looking at her sheepish expression.

And then I remembered. Alice. Alice was supposed to be here too. That was the reason I'd agreed in the first place, wasn't it?

" _Where is Alice?_ " I demanded.

"She's just around the corner, Lily. She'll be here in two minutes," Remus said after a second, looking up from a worn-out looking piece of parchment.

"And how would you know that? Can you see through walls, or something?" I asked, annoyed.

I thought I saw James give Sirius a knowing look. Really, it was like those three shared the same brain or something. Whatever went on in one's mind, the other two seemed to automatically tune in.

"Why, didn't you know, Evans? Our Moony has magic eyes," he said, clapping Remus on the back.

"Shut u – "

"Oh, look, here she is," Remus said, pointing towards the Portrait Hole.

I turned around. There was nobody.

"What d'you –"

I was interrupted again by the sound of the Portrait Hole sliding open, and Alice scrambling in. Now I was really surprised. _How could he have known?_ _Super hearing powers?_

Probably. I got over that soon, though – I'd never been as happy to see anyone in my entire life.

" _Alice!"_ I ran over to her. "Oh, thank _goodness_." I exclaimed, giving her a tight hug. She looked bewildered.

"Lily – "

" _What took you so long?_ Were you planning on letting me die at the hands of these wolves?" I accused.

Remus, James and Sirius exchanged a grin, like they were enjoying some inside joke.

 _Yep, definitely a shared brain,_ I decided.

"I got held up, Lily. I had to dodge Filch over three floors."

"And where's Frank?"

"He wouldn't be able to make it...he just remembered he had some essay due. I tried getting him to come...but he said he couldn't. Apparently, his mum is extremely strict, and also really good friends with the Professors."

That had to suck.

"Oh. Maybe some other time then..." I said, feeling kind of sorry he couldn't make it.

"So, shall we start?" Sirius said, rubbing his palms together.

"Does everyone know the rules?" He asked, throwing himself to the floor from the armchair, and looking around at each of us.


	10. A night of new revelations

_I knew I should never have agreed to this game, I_ knew _it._

We'd been playing Truth and Dare for almost two hours now, resulting in a hilarious balancing dance from Remus, and the disclosure of the fact that Sirius had a weakness for playing with balls, among other things; and the ice cube sitting in the pocket of my skirt, resting on my thigh, sure to give me a frostbite. I couldn't move. I _wouldn't_ move. If losing my leg to frostbite meant denying Sirius Black the satisfaction of watching me lose, I'd do it. I ignored Alice's sympathetic looks and Marlene's mirth filled ones and counted every second until I could have my revenge.

He was _so_ gonna regret this. Marauder extraordinaire, my foot.

Thinking past my slowly and painfully freezing thigh, I tuned back into the game to find everyone staring at Remus, who for some reason was staring ahead, completely still.

"What's the dare? Statue?" I asked Alice, feeling compelled to whisper because of the pin drop silence in the room.

"Nope," she said (in a normal voice), – "he has to remain completely still while the rest of us – "Aha!" exclaimed Sirius, turning excitedly to James " – try to make him move by any means we can think of," she finished, glancing at the pair.

"Prongs, where're those Honeydukes chocolates we – er, mum sent us?" asked Sirius, sneaking a quick , not-so-subtle glance at me.

James rolled his eyes. "She already _knows_ we go to Hogsmeade, Padfoot," he said. "And even if she didn't, it's not like she'd go tattle to McGonagall!"

I looked at him, surprised; I was used to being treated as the stuck-up Head Girl – especially by the Marauders.

"You don't have to look so surprised, Lily," James said, noticing my expression. Leaning closer, he said, "Besides, you know you're not the goody Head Girl you appear to be." He motioned at the Firewhiskey around us. "Or you'd never have agreed to this."

I looked at him, at a loss for words. How was he so sure I wouldn't complain?

And yet, I knew it in my gut that he was totally right. No matter what the Marauders did, I'd never actually give them away to a Professor. It was heart warming, in a way, to know that he trusted me on that.

"Pads, we only have a minute," James said, turning back to Sirius, before I could figure out how to thank him.

Sirius jumped up, and reached for his wand. " _Accio_ Honeydukes!" he shouted, then realising what he'd said, backtracked quickly – " _Accio_ chocolates!"

There was no sign of a single chocolate.

I looked at Remus' face, clearly holding back laughter.

Laughter! "Sirius, can we touch him?" I asked.

"Sure," he said, "but unless he moves by himself it isn't counted."

Oh, he'd move by himself all the same, shaking with laughter. I moved forward to tickle him.

"He isn't ticklish," James said, reading my mind. I froze, stumped.

Then reached for my wand, pointed it at Remus, and muttered a tickling charm under my breath. It was a long shot, but it was worth a try.

I watched with satisfaction as Remus rolled on the floor, clutching his stomach and laughing.

James, Sirius and Marlene looked from the boy on the floor to me in amazement, then whooped.

"How d'you do that Lily?" asked Alice, voicing the question in everyone's eyes.

"I dunno, I just guessed – people may or may not be susceptible to physical tickling, but a tickling charm may work differently," I said.

"After all I've done for you," said Remus resentfully, finally sitting up. I laughed.

"Don't be too glad. Your time was up."

"Obviously, Moony, which is why you're still playing," said Sirius as he got down on his knees, and spun his wand again. We watched as it came to a stop, the pointed end towards Marlene and the other end towards Remus.

"Truth or Dare, Marlene?"

"Truth."

"Alright. What's the worst thing about being a girl?"

"PMS," she said at once. Only Marlene could say that without being embarrassed. "Bloody monthly –

"Alright, alright, we don't want the details!" exclaimed James, spreading his palms in front of him. Sirius, though, was grinning from ear to ear.

"Time of the month, eh, Marlene?" he said, smirking at Remus – who looked at him like he'd like to stupefy him. "Our Moony knows all about it," he added, joining in with James in laughter, and earning a viscous glare from Remus. The rest of us stared at them, not quite getting the joke.

"Shut up, you prat," he said, chucking a quill in his direction, which James caught easily.

"I'm not going to pretend to know what you're laughing about," — he laughed harder, "but can we get on with the game?" Alice said, impatient.

"Sure," Remus said quickly, spinning Sirius' wand. James and Sirius picked themselves up off the floor, and waited for it to stop.

It came to a rest pointing towards James, with Alice on the other end. She cleared her throat.

"Truth or Dare?"

"Dare."

"Alright. Remus, do you have a container of some kind?"

"Think so," he said, and getting up and pulling out a goblet.

"Thanks.

" _Aguamenti,"_ she whispered, filling the glass with water as James looked on suspiciously.

Then she pulled out the common cold tonic Madam Pomfrey had given her a week ago, and dumped a quarter of it in the goblet.

 _Oh no,_ I thought, not sure whether to worry about James or wait and laugh at his reaction.

"Alice, you evil woman," Marlene said, a slow smirk spreading cross her face. She'd gotten a taste of it already, albeit accidentally, and had spent a good ten minutes jumping around the room.

And that had been just about one teaspoonful.

Alice handed the goblet to James. "That's the worst tasting medicine ever invented by Madam Pomfrey. Bertie Bott's earwax flavored beans would be _nothing_ compared to this, I repeat, _n_ _othing_. I dare you to drink it," she said, "in one breath."

James looked from the goblet to our expressions, clearly discerning.

"It's against the rules to poison people," he said, holding the goblet away from himself.

"Its completely harmless," Alice assured him. "Are you drinking it or not?" she said, as he continued to stare at the goblet showing no intention of drinking it.

"Fine," he said, swallowing his apprehension and raising the goblet to his lips. We looked on as he tipped his head back, and drank it all in one gulp.

Instantly afterwards, we sat there in total alarm, owing to his jumping to his feet faster than we could blink, spinning around on the spot several times in a horrible convulsive dance, appearing to be racked by spasms, and then finally rushing to the bathroom. We followed him and stared as he stood there, bent double, coughing violently and making horrific faces, appearing to be one who'd lost his sanity. I thought he might be sick.

It was a relief when Sirius finally dragged him back to the room, where he collapsed in a heap on the floor, sinking down with a huge gasp.

"I'll never pick dare again," he croaked, falling upon the floor behind him.

Remus and Sirius were looking at Alice, who looked quite smug, with amazement etched upon their faces.

"Merlin, remind me never to piss you off," said Marlene, shaking her head.

"He didn't piss me off, Marlene," she replied, "and besides, its not like you'll remember that."

Marlene grinned.

"James, are you alright?" I said, because he was still lying upon the floor. He sat up quickly, nodding. Then he grinned at Alice, wiping beads of sweat off his forehead.

"Well, remind _me_ never to actually piss you off," he said, picking up the wand. Alice laughed.

He spun the wand, and it came to a rest pointing towards Alice, with the other end towards Sirius.

Sirius grinned slowly; and although she was smiling, I could see that Alice looked slightly apprehensive. I had no doubt she'd pick Truth.

"Dare or dare, Alice?" asked Sirius, grinning.

Alice smiled. "Truth."

He rolled his eyes. "Alright. Well, then – If you could kiss anyone in this room, who would it be?"

Alice glared. "I'd – "

"..aaand Frank is out of the question."

She pursed her lips. "Definitely not you, you prat," she snapped, while he smirked. "Obviously."

She looked from James to Remus, who each looked at her expectantly.

"Hey, Marlene and Lily are there too," said Sirius, gesturing towards us. Alice ignored him.

"Remus," she said, after a couple of minutes.

"Hey!" James protested, indignant; while Remus looked rather surprised. Pointing at James, she said, "Precisely why I didn't pick you."

I laughed. He rolled his eyes.

I reached for the wand, and spun it again. It was pointing towards James again, with the other end towards me.

"Truth," he said, even before I asked him.

"Wise boy," said Remus, smiling.

"Okay then. Who do you trust the most in this room?"

His eyes shifted imperceptibly, and there was no trace of humour in them.

"There's no question of trusting anyone the most," he said, surprising me; I'd thought he'd say Sirius. "I'd trust anyone in this room, and Peter, with my life. Its the least I can do, in return for their friendship." There was no trace of doubt in his eyes. I looked at him, feeling somehow reprimanded for asking the question. I could never be that trusting.

"That's...really considerate, James," I said. "Thanks."

"Yeah, thank you, James." I think this was the only time I'd seen Marlene be completely genuine.

Remus smiled at James, while Sirius cleared his throat, and said, "Yeah, Prongs, trust everyone, and one day it'll be your downfall. I've told you before, and I'm telling you again."

"And you have good reason to, Sirius, as much as I wish you didn't," James said, looking in his direction. "There's no harm in believing the best of everyone unless you have good reason not to."

"And there's no harm in not trusting anyone unless you have good reason to."

James sighed. "We'll never agree on this." He bent forward and spun the wand again. It came to a rest pointing towards me again; I'd just dried my skirt after all the ice had melted. Marlene sat at the other end of the wand.

I groaned. Truth or dare, I was going to be humiliated. Marlene laughed at my expression.

"Truth or Dare, Lilykins?"

"Dare." I'd never trust Marlene with Truth.

She rubbed her hands together, and I could practically see the wheels in her brain churning.

"Alright," she said, clapping, "I dare you to put on a blindfold and slow dance with any of us. Or – wait," she grabbed Alice's hand and moved with her to the other side of the room, then pointed at the boys, "any of them. You've gotta guess who it is by touch alone."

"Great," I muttered. "Blindfold?"

"I'll get one," Sirius said, rushing off. "I – er, will help him search," said Remus, taking off after Sirius. Marlene and Alice joined them. I looked at James, raising an eyebrow.

"How many people does it take to search for a cloth?"

He shrugged. "I've given up on understanding everything they do."

I looked up from the place James and I had been clearing up, when Sirius came back with a handkerchief that I'd rather have died than put upon my face. Remus snatched it from him as he moved towards me.

" _Scourgify,"_ he muttered, and the handkerchief became as clean as anything of Sirius Black's could be.

Grateful, I turned around to allow him to tie it around my head. He did it quite well; I couldn't see a thing through it, from the top or from the bottom.

"Alright, move away, everyone," said Marlene, from the far end of the room. I heard the shuffling of steps, then silence.

"Wait, what about music?" asked Alice.

"I'll sing," said Sirius. She snorted.

"Shut up, you prat, now she'll know where you are!" snapped Marlene. Then there was silence. I was disappointed; I'd been hoping for Sirius to retort back. I moved forward, step by step, until I finally touched a shirt.

"That's...Peter's vest, I think," came Alice's voice. "Ew," I cringed back, curling my fingers. The boys' dormitory was no place for a girl to roam about blindly.

Finally, after a couple of minutes, I grabbed an arm. I could get no clue as to who it belonged to.

Then, suddenly, I heard music. I don't know how, or from where, and I couldn't place the song. I took his hand. His fingers were warm, his palm calloused. It could be either James or Sirius, then. Remus' hands were scarred – but not calloused. I decided to worry about it later; the silence, apart from the soothing music and the complete darkness, made it easy to forget about everything – NEWTs, the future, and the uncertainty of war. The world had shrunk into nothing, dissolved by the darkness and the music. There was only the pacifying euphony, and the person in front of me. He slid his other hand around my waist, and I placed one of mine on his arm. Slowly, we began to move – step by step, gradually easing into the rhythm of the waltz. The music grew faster, and he steered me into it, never faltering – so well that I suspected him of years of practise.

Much too soon, like all good things, the music came to an end, with the game, the dare, and everything else rushing back in an instant.

"James," I said, without thinking. I pulled down my blindfold, and looked up at him. He stared back at me, neither of us speaking – somehow beyond speaking in that moment.

Then, at a smattering of applause from behind us, I turned around. Marlene strode forward.

"You guys were _hot,_ " she said, shaking her head.

Sirius, who'd been standing next to Alice and Remus, said, "Yeah, yeah. We thought you might even snog in the end."

I glared at him, as best as I could, with an impertinent blush creeping up my neck.

"So anyway, Lily, how d'you know it was James?" asked Alice.

"Oh, that's easy," said Marlene, laughing, "soul mates can sense each other, Alice."

"Marlene, if you care for your life, shut up," I said, clutching my wand in my fist. She saw it, unfortunately, and she quieted down.

"Well, then, tell us how you knew," said Remus.

"I don't know! It was a guess! I just guessed it, didn't I?" I said, and whether I was questioning them or answering them, I didn't know.

"Whatever it is, you're an amazing dancer, Lily," James said, smiling.

"Thanks, James," I said, meaningfully, "I could say the same for you."

"Bla bla bla..."

"Okay, whatever," Remus cut me off before I could hurl a curse at Sirius, and picked up a bottle of Firewhiskey. Sirius and Marlene followed suit. "Can we continue the game?"

"I'm tired," I said.

"Do you want to go to sleep?"

"No, I'm not sleepy." Then an idea struck me. "Why don't we play only Truth?" I asked glancing around at each of them. Remus shrugged, and Alice nodded. "That's a good idea," said James.

"Yeah. I'm too tired to get up now."

"Alright," I said. I spun the wand. The pointed tip came to a rest in front of Sirius, with Alice at the other end.

"If you were given a chance to be invisible for a day, what would you do with the ability?" she asked.

He thought for a couple of minutes, silent.

"Well, first I'd obliviate my family," he said. "Completely. They wouldn't know the first thing about purebloods and half-bloods. Then, I'd steal motorcycles – and fly at full speed, in plain view of the muggle police – so they'd see a motorcycle floating in the air," he snickered, "and then I'd fly to Honeydukes, stuff myself with chocolates; then take Polyjuice Potion, pluck out one of Wormtail's hairs, and add it to Snivellus' drink – while he's drinking it, of course, or he'll notice the change in colour – then fly to the Ministry, steal a Time Turner, and go back to the beginning of the day," he finished.

"Wow."

"What, you wouldn't go around stealing girls' undergarments?" asked Marlene, raising her eyebrows.

"I don't need a special invisibility day for that," he retorted.

"Urgh." Bending forward, she spun the wand again. It was pointing at Remus, with me asking the question.

"Remus, what was the last lie you told?" I asked.

I didn't know if I imagined it, but the the three of them shared a significant look.

"I can't say."

"C'mon, Remus, its just us," said Alice.

"Yeah, we're not going to judge you," I said, looking at him; although it was clear from his expression that he wasn't going to budge.

"It's not about being judged or not – I just can't say. Besides, it isn't entirely my secret to tell."

"Aw, c'mon, Remus, are you really going to lose because of _this_ question?" Marlene asked, disbelieving.

"I don't have a choice."

This was weird. What did _Remus_ lie about, that he couldn't share with us? Whatever it was, the Marauders were clearly in on it. And if their faces were anything to go by, it was something very serious.

"Okay, then. Remus is out," I said, picking up the wand. "But you can still help us with questions, right?"

He shrugged. "Sure, if you need help."

I spun the wand. This time, it was pointing at Marlene, with the other end – sweet Merlin – at me. I almost jumped in joy. I already knew what I'd ask her. And _Merlin,_ Marlene McKinnon was going to be humiliated. She looked at me, eyes filled with apprehension.

"Marlene, what's the longest you've gone without showering?" I asked, grinning from ear to ear – while Alice laughed, and her eyes widened in disbelief. "Lily! You can't ask that!"

"Sure she can," Remus said laughing. "Unless you wanna come join me?"

Marlene glared at him – but then assumed an expression that said she was seriously contemplating it, before sending me a pleading look. It quickly turned into a withering glare when my stoic expression refused to change.

"We're waiting, Marlene," said James, looking at her expectantly.

She opened her mouth, and closed it again. Then repeated the action two more times.

"Stop gaping like a goldfish, McKinnon!" said Sirius, impatient. "C'mon, it can't be that bad! I didn't shower for three days in a row a few weeks back. And I'm not even ashamed to admit it!"

She glared at him, then said, so quietly we could barely hear it, "Amonth."

There was complete silence for a minute. Then –

" _What?"_ Remus gasped, from behind me. Alice was laughing, while I savoured my sweet revenge.

"Marlene, are you _serious_?" asked James, clamping a hand over Sirius' mouth as he opened his mouth to reply, no doubt to remind everyone exactly who Serious was.

Marlene, blushing to the roots of her hair, stared at her lap resolutely. Sirius fell about laughing, and I joined in.

"Whoa, Marlene, when did this happen?" asked Remus, rearranging his features into as little of an 'ew' expression as he could. She looked up, her face still flushed.

"Summer last year," she said, without making eye-contact. "I've hated showering ever since I was born. I wouldn't enter the bathroom willingly until my mum threatened to dump me into the sea. Then last summer, my mum and dad went abroad – my neighbours brought me food, but otherwise I was left alone. I didn't see the face of the shower for the next one month. And then," she said, glaring up at me, "like an idiot, I told Lily and Alice all about it in my letters."

I might've felt a teeny bit guilty, if it hadn't been for the fact that Marlene humiliated me on an almost daily basis. I smiled up at her, unperturbed.

"Whoa." Sirius let out a breath. "Marlene, how did you _stand_ it?" James asked, his face still showing disbelief.

"I don't know, I won't know, can we move on now?" she said, and spun the wand without waiting for a reply. I laughed at Remus and James' expressions, then yawned. For the first time in months, I'd completely lost track of time. I had no idea how long it'd been since we'd come up here after dinner.

The wand came to a rest, pointing at James – with me at the other end, again.

I looked at him, unsure what to ask him – this new James Potter, full of surprises – who trusted so wholeheartedly. Suddenly, I couldn't help noticing how, whenever he spoke, he drew the attention of the room without even trying. All these years, I'd thought it obvious that he would draw attention – he was, after all, unbelievably loud and obnoxious – though I could hardly say the same now. Noticing him among his friends, casual and carefree, the charisma that so clearly enveloped him was completely transparent. Observing him in a group of people, it quickly became obvious why he'd been chosen Head Boy – no one else instilled that sense of trust and commitment the way he did. Looking past the walls of cockiness and attitude he'd built around himself, now that he'd finally let them down, it was apparent why he was so popular. The pranks and the devil-may-care nature, of course, went a long way in adding to it – though they were certainly not the sole reason. I hated to admit it to myself, but suddenly, I wished I knew James Potter better – his thoughts, his aspirations – not the happy-go-lucky, reliable and trustworthy Marauder who was already one of my closest friends. Listening to that thought running inside my head was unsettling, if anything – the Lily of a few months back would've smacked me if she'd heard it.

"Lily, what are you dreaming about?" Alice's voice jarred me, to say the least; I quickly tried to think of a conceivable reply – there was no way I was telling her that I'd been reviewing my relationship with James Potter. I'd never hear the end of it.

Hell, even _I_ wouldn't let my brain hear the end of it.

"Thinking, obviously," I said, quickly moving ahead to put forth my question. "James, if you could see 24 hours into the future, what would you do with this ability?" I asked.

He replied almost at once. "Find out what poor muggle or muggle-born Voldemort was attacking next – 'coz he kills on a daily basis, apparently – and do whatever I can to prevent it. Inform Dumbledore, probably – not much else I can do."

We sat in silence for a minute or two, not knowing what to say. I was a muggle-born myself – and what James had just said touched me in a way I couldn't explain.

"He'll be stopped before long, James," Alice said, sounding more like she was assuring herself.

Remus, who'd been quiet all this while, got up and pulled the blinds, letting the first rays of sunlight come streaming in.

An entire night. An entire night had passed, and it felt like a few hours.

"Wha – its morning!" Sirius exclaimed, looking out the window, at the grounds bathed in the early morning sunlight.

"I guess we should head back now," Alice said, standing up – then immediately collapsing on the floor again.

"Ow!" She clutched at her foot. "My foot's numb."

Marlene stood up, then helped me up as well. I went over to stand by the window, taking in the sight of the orange sun.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" said a voice behind me. I turned around to see James, now leaning his forehead against the grill. I nodded. "I've always loved looking at the sunrise."

"And I've always dreamed of flying into it on my broomstick," he said, laughing. I looked at him sidelong, and grinned. I could feel the warmth of his body next to mine, as we stood there gazing into the horizon.

My stomach fluttered – hunger, probably. I stepped back, reluctant to let go of the sight, and made my way towards the door. Alice and Marlene had already left. I opened the door, a 'goodbye' on my lips, and paused. There was one more thing I had to do.

"Sirius?"

My thigh had just returned to normal.

He looked up from where he was disposing of the empty Firewhiskey bottles – disposing, as in, slipping them under Remus' bed – and looked at me questioningly.

"Can I dare you to do a last dare?" I asked. He raised his eyebrows, clearly suspicious – but I knew he wouldn't back down. This was Sirius Black. I'd make sure his pride came before a fall this time, literally.

He shrugged and stood up, crossing his arms. "Well?"

"I dare you to hug the next person who walks into the Great Hall after you tomorrow, and refuse to let go."

He laughed. "That all? I'll be sure to enter before Prongs. Or, I'll make sure and enter before you. How's that?" he asked, grinning.

"Sounds very good," I said. "I'll see you tomorrow, then." If he thought he could get away that easily, he was getting a very unpleasant surprise tomorrow.

I bade goodbye to the other two – James was staying behind – and made my way to the Heads' Room, hoping to get a couple of hours of sleep.

* * *

As I fell into a fitful slumber, my thoughts went back unbidden to the days when James asked me out day and night. Sure, I'd hated it, thrown fits over it – but somehow, it had become a sort of routine in my life – something I could always fall back on.

And, I'll admit – some of his attempts would have been downright hilarious if they hadn't been targeted at me.

If you're wondering, then no, I didn't want James to resume asking me out – I didn't miss that – but then I didn't know what it was.

I decided not to worry about it – I knew it'd all be fine in the morning.

 **Please, please review. I'd love to know what you think.**


	11. A dinner at Midnight

I walked to breakfast the next day, still half asleep – I'd gotten just an hour and a half of sleep. My state of stupor wasn't meant to last long, though – because I walked in on a sight I'd never have believed the Universe of producing.

Even if it involved Sirius Black.

He was standing there, at the entrance of the Great Hall – holding on to Professor McGonagall, _around the waist_.

I blinked. Then stared, jaw on the floor, as he held on for dear life, jabbering in her ear. I watched in disbelief, finally taking the sight in as she jabbed at him with her walking stick.

Sirius Black was hugging Minerva McGonagall.

Suddenly, in an instant, it all came rushing back to me – the game – my dare to Sirius at the end of it. Students across all four House Tables were shaking with laughter, while James and Remus at the Gryffindor Table looked as though they weren't sure whether to laugh or to rescue their friend.

Finally, throwing him off her with a _Petrificus Totalus_ spell, she pointed her wand at him, unfroze him, and snatched away 25 House Points, coupled with handing him Detentions for two weeks. I'd never, ever seen her this furious – just, I don't know why – she didn't seem furious. I had a strong suspicion her anger was more for the sake of the watching student body than for Sirius. Strands of her hair had escaped from her ever-perfect bun, and were now framing her face, tousled and untidy. A light sheen of sweat shone on her forehead. Throwing her worst death-glare ever at the Marauder on the floor, she turned on her heel, and stormed away.

But I knew she'd come back again – she'd come to the Great Hall for a reason.

I walked over to Sirius, worried about what his reaction would be. I'd never counted on McGonagall being the victim of my dare; I'd actually thought of arranging it so it could be Severus, and then had promptly forgotten all about it – and I couldn't believe Sirius had actually carried out the dare inspite of my absence, and inspite of it being McGonagall.

 _Now that I think about it,_ I thought, _it may be possible that he did it_ because _it was McGonagall._

He grinned up at me, not unsettled in the least.

"Merlin, thanks, Lily! If not for you, I'd never have known McGonagall had such a soft side," he said, to my gaping astonishment.

"Sirius, are you alright?" I asked, not entirely enquiring after his physical health. He called being petrified and thrown on the floor being shown a soft side?

"Yeah, yeah," he said, still grinning, "never been better." Then he shook his head and said, in a lower voice, "Man, I love that woman."

I would never understand his brain.

We walked towards the Breakfast Table. The mere sight of the golden plates and goblets gleaming by the light of the hundreds and hundreds of candles was enough to cause my stomach to rumble. We joined the other Gryffindors at the Gryffindor table at the far side of the Hall, and sat down next to James and Remus. Peter, Alice and Marlene were nowhere to be seen; they were probably still in bed. At least, Marlene definitely was.

I was almost halfway through a sizeable chunk of bacon when I noticed Professor McGonagall striding towards our table, handing out schedules, her perfect bun in place once again. She walked right up to James and me, when James finally looked up, his mouth full of mashed potatoes. She took a glance at him as he hurriedly swallowed his food, then turned to me.

"Miss Evans, I want you and Mr. Potter to arrange the new patrolling schedules for this term," she said, handing me a parchment with a list of Prefects and a few rows and columns drawn upon it. "I want the two of you to assign pairs of Prefects for each day of the week. Today, it would upto you both, as Head Boy and Head Girl, to take up the duties. The normal schedule will be followed from tomorrow." I took the parchment, folded it up, slipped it into my bag. She turned to James now, who'd finally swallowed his food. She handed him another, longer parchment.

"Potter, that's the list of First and Second years who've signed up for tutoring, along with a list of volunteers from the Sixth and Seventh year students. I want you to assign every student a volunteer, taking into account the subject asked for by each of them. You'll have to talk to the students and tutors individually."

James stared at her, incredulous. "Every single one?"

"Take that expression off you face, for Merlin's sake," she snapped. "You and Miss Evans may split up the work between yourselves," she said, and briskly walked away.

My heart sank; I could've sworn my face mirrored James'. I poked at my breakfast, a lot less enthusiastically than before.

* * *

"Don't be ridiculous, James."

It was well past curfew. We'd been busy with Heads' duties the entire evening, thanks to the never ending questions of the First years and our procrastination, delaying our work until just before dinner. Of course, we'd missed the feast. Which was why I now found myself walking towards the Heads Room after a long hour of patrolling with an empty stomach and an idiotic James Potter tagging along behind.

"I'm not. I'm being my usual smart self."

"There's no way we're going."

"I say we go."

"I say we don't."

"Merlin, Lily. You're so..." he threw down his hands in frustration. "Ugh."

"I'm so _what?_ "

"I don't know. Stubborn. Unyielding."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Go to hell."

" Are t – what? Not hell, Lily, the kitchens."

"Oh Merlin, save me."

"James Potter is right here."

"Exactly why I need saving."

He chuckled. My stomach chose precisely that moment to growl. He raised his eyebrows, smiling smugly.

"I think I heard something."

"I don't think you did."

"I think I heard your stomach, Lily Evans."

"No way, you didn't, James Potter. We're going back now."

"Who says we are?"

" _I_ do!"

" _Lily._ "

No response.

"Lilykins?"

I turned around, suppressing a smile. "You think turning into Marlene will help your case?"

He shrugged. "I might _die_. A drowning man can clasp a floating straw."

"Wise words, Potter."

"I know. So?"

"So lets go to sleep, shall we?"

His raised his eyebrows suggestively. "Sleep? Us?"

"In. Our. Respective. Rooms," I said through my teeth.

He made a show of looking disappointed. Somewhere, so deep down I didn't even know you could go that deep, I wished it wasn't just a show.

'I' as in the other one month old weird-thinking Lily, that is.

"Sure. But lets go eat something first, shall we?"

I groaned. "You're worse than a first-year."

He rolled his eyes. "You know, Lily, we could've been to the Kitchens and back in the time you spent arguing with me."

"And you know what, James? We could have been fast asleep and dreaming by now if you hadn't started this nonsensical argument."

"There is nothing nonsensical about wanting to prevent starvation."

"Fine."

"Fine?" He looked like he'd seen me with horns.

"Fine, James. You go. I don't want your blood on my hands."

He looked at me for a second. "Okay."

I turned around and started walking. I'd barely taken five steps when I turned around again.

"The kitchens are that way, James," I said, pointing behind him.

"I know."

I raised an eyebrow. Then shook my head and kept walking, James following behind me. We were steps away from a tapestry when, suddenly, he grabbed my arm and drove me right towards the wall opposite. I shrieked, watching the wall come closer and closer as we rushed into it, and squeezed my eyes shut, preparing for the crash, ready for my nose to break.

It never came.

I opened my eyes, and gasped. There was no sign of the wall or the tapestry or the corridor we'd been walking in. Instead, I found myself being pulled hurriedly down a winding passageway, James Potter striding forward in front of me.

" _James!"_ I skidded to a stop and pulled my hand out of his, placing it on my chest;my heart was still racing. He stopped, turned to look at me and grinned, looking ten parts sheepish, twenty parts happy, and seventy parts smug.

"I should kill you for this," I said, fully meaning it, but it didn't sound like it; instead, I just sounded breathless.

He gave me a full fledged grin and walked back towards me.

"Come on, Evans," he said, slinging an arm around my shoulders. "If you're willing to have some fun, then let's go down to the kitchens."

"I haven't forgiven you. But I will, only if you promise to tell me what's the best thing to order – that we don't often get in the Great Hall," I replied, looking up at him. "Because I know you know."

He smiled. "Maybe?"

I glanced at him askance, and grinned.

We entered the kitchens, my nose instantly flooded by an indistinguishable range of wonderful smells, so that my stomach growled louder than ever. James, who was smiling at the beaming and bowing house-elves, was instantly recognized. They gave us a very warm welcome, cheerfully bowing and curtsying and going about their business.

"We will serve you immediately, James Potter, sir," said one of them, squeaking at his waist. Turning his big, brown eyes towards me, he said, "Is there anything you would like, Miss?"

"No, thank you," I said, smiling. "I'll share with James."

He nodded, and hurried away.

"Come here pretty frequently, huh?" I asked him, the fact that they knew what he wanted not having escaped my attention.

"You have no idea. This is home within the home away from home," he said, hands in his pockets, staring around at the hundreds of house-elves.

I watched as one of them walked over to us, and ladled out soup in shiny, pristine bowls, while another came over carrying a plate of burritoes.

I took the first bite of burrito in my mouth – it was positively delicious.

I opened my eyes to find James staring right at me. He smiled. Unexpectedly, I found myself smiling back.

"Exotic, isn't it?"

I nodded. "It reminds me of home. Tuney – my older sister – and I used to beg mum for chicken burritoes when we were younger," I said, unable to keep a twinge of sadness out of my tone. "She used to make them as a reward for us being good."

"You miss home, don't you?" he said, looking down at his soup. "I mean, it must be so different...living like a muggle, for those few months, and then being a witch, back here at Hogwarts – and a rather good one, I might add."

I blushed, and smiled.

 _Merlin. Was I sitting here, blushing in front of James Potter?_

"Yeah. It is," I said, "But I wouldn't have it any other way. The Muggle world isn't quite as boring as you might think."

His eyes widened slightly. "Boring? Of course I don't think it's boring!" he said, sounding almost offended. "Have you seen those boxes they have? Black, with those people inside. Their pictures are still and unmoving, but that box does it all! And have you seen those things?" he asked, indicating the size of the 'thing' with his thumb and forefinger. "You can talk into it. No need for a fireplace and all. Once, you won't believe it, Sirius actually saw coffee coming out of a box," he said, nodding, as if trying to make me believe it.

I laughed. "I know, James, muggleborn, remember?" I said, waving towards myself, briefly wondering what would happen if he was let loose inside a supermarket.

"Oh yeah. Forgot. You probably have that kind of stuff at home."

"Why, do I sense jealousy?" I said, raising an eyebrow. Internally, I shook my head in disbelief. Here I was, sitting in front of a wizard, who envied my muggle home.

"'Course you do," he said, with mock bitterness. "D'you know how many pranks we can pull with those things?"

"Honestly, James, since you call everything a 'thing', I have no idea which one of the things you're talking about."

"That thing! It blows up in your face."

"Gunpowder?" I asked, hardly surprised he would've caught on to that – his brain was wired just that kind of thing.

"I dunno. But I'll get some."

"Sure," I laughed, "just ask the shopkeeper for the _thing._ "

He made a face, and then looked down at our empty plates. "Want anything else?"

"Nah, I'm full," I said, truthfully.

"Well, you don't have a choice, 'cause I've gotta carry out my promise," he said, waving a house-elf over. "Could I have one of those chocolate éclairs?" he asked, a platter of éclair zooming towards us even as finished his request.

"Thank you," he smiled at the house-elf, who blushed and bowed as low as she could.

I smiled. "Those elves love you," I said, digging into the chocolate.

He grinned, and shrugged. "I've been coming down here since third year. I'm quite familiar to them."

I nodded. I had the feeling it was more than that, though. Not many wizards thanked them for their services or smiled at them.

As I took the first bite of éclair, I had my first experience of the supernatural. It was absolute bliss.

I swallowed my first mouthful, then looked gratefully at James, who wore quite an amused expression. I couldn't speak for quite a while.

Between the two of us savouring every bite, it was gone within minutes. Wiping my mouth and licking chocolate off my fingers, even as James did the same, we walked towards the exit, and out into the empty passageway.

"James, where are we going?" Expecting him to lead me towards the wall we'd come through, I was surprised when we kept walking for a considerably longer distance.

"To our common room."

"But – "

"Lily, its past one," he said. "Do you want to get caught with Filch?"

I shuddered to think of Filch going and telling Professor McGonagall about finding the Head Boy and Head Girl taking a stroll in the middle of the night.

"That's right," he said, noticing my expression. "Trust me, this way is much shorter."

And sure enough, before I knew it, we were in front of the Portrait Hole, muttering the password.

I followed James inside, my limbs finally feeling the exhaustion. I'd had just one hour of sleep the previous day. James, splayed upon the couch, looked equally exhausted. He must've slept even less – he'd stayed back in the Gryffindor dormitory with Remus and Sirius. I sat down in front of the fireplace, too lazy to climb up the stairs just then.

Pulling up my legs close to my chest, I rested my head on my knees, wondering how more than an hour had flown by without my noticing the passing of a single minute. Talking to James, laughing with him made me feel free somehow, like I had no fear of being judged. What came out of my mouth was never what I thought I'd say in my head. Telling him about Tuney – when I never spoke to even my friends about her – had just come about effortlessly, without the slightest inhibition. This James Potter was funny, kind, understanding – and my unbidden wish to spend more time with him scared me more than I cared to admit.

Finally, lest I fall asleep right there in front of the fire, I got up to trudge upstairs towards my room.

"G'night, James," I said, turning back slightly.

There was no answer.

I turned around to face his couch. His arm was slung over his eyes, hiding half of his face from view.

"James?" I called again, tentatively. No answer.

I walked towards the couch, and lifted his arm from his face. Sure enough, he was fast asleep, as unconscious as one could be. His glasses had been digging into the bridge of his nose from when he'd covered his eyes with his arm, without taking them off. I couldn't help but notice his profile, partly hidden in darkness, as it looked even more strikingly handsome than usual, shadows playing on his face in the glow of the firelight.

Carefully, before I could think about what I was doing, I'd bent over, picked up his glasses off his nose, and placed them on the table in front of the couch, where he might find them in the morning.

Then, just as I turned to go back to my room, I climbed up his staircase, brought down his quilt, and covered him up as best as I could.

Finally, dragging myself upstairs and falling into bed, I fell instantly into a deep, dreamless sleep, shifting James Potter and the troubling effect he seemed to be having on me to the back of my mind, pushing them as far as they would go.


	12. A letter from home

Chapter 12

I woke up, feeling everything right with the world, all bright and beautiful. I hadn't had a full and blissful night's sleep like that in _ages_. Shrugging off my blankets, I skipped over to my window and drew the blinds open, sunlight flooding in in an instant. I glanced at the clock; it was almost noon. No wonder I felt so fresh.

I froze with my hand still on the curtains.

It was almost noon.

I raced to the door, thrust it open, and flew down the stairs as fast as my legs could carry me.

"JAMES!" I yelled, screaming at the top of my voice.

If he'd left...How could he _not_ wake me?

Skidding to a stop a foot from the staircase, I came to a standstill.

Because the arse was still sleeping, all of his six-foot-tall frame stretched out on the couch. It was all I could do to not overturn the couch and flip him over.

With my wand, of course.

I stomped over to him, and got ready to smack his head, until, of course, I saw his face.

Let me just say it, here.

He looked adorable.

Dark lashes fanned his cheekbones, and he looked peaceful; he looked so innocent, you'd never believe he'd ever taunted a Slytherin.

 _Which he hasn't, in a long time,_ a small, truthful voice whispered inside my head. Ignoring it, I turned and walked towards the bathroom, coming back with an evil, eager smile on my face.

 _Splash._

"Wha – !" He coughed and spluttered, shaking his head and sending water everywhere. He looked about his surroundings wildly for a minute, rubbing his eyes. Wiping the water dripping from his chin and forehead on the sleeve of his arm, he looked up at me.

"You wrench," he said, half scowling, half disgruntled, half sleepy, half smiling. I know I just included four halves there.

" _Me_ wrench?" I said, then picked up the clock on the table and shoved it in his face. He pulled backwards, and squinted downwards to see the time.

"What?"

"What? It's _noon_ , that's what! Merlin, are you still sleeping?" I exclaimed.

"Lily, it's noon everyday."

I swallowed a yell of frustration.

" _James._ We had _class._ We _missed_ class. We are _late._ "

"Uh huh." He was looking at me as if waiting for me to get to the point. I had to resist the urge to check for his brains. By opening his skull compartment or whatever.

"Nothing. Just – go back tosleep," I said, turning around to head upstairs and deal with my fate alone. I couldn't believe I'd just wasted 20 minutes waking him up.

"Lily, wait," he said, striding forward and grabbing my arm. I turned, a curse on the tip of my tongue, when he held up his palm in front of my face, stalling my words.

"I know we're late. I know we missed class. There's nothing we can do about it. It's Transfiguration right now. If you go stumble into her class, you'll get detention for _sure_. So just sit and wait for the class to get over and _chill_."

My jaw was half hanging open by now. He shut it with his fingers.

"Don't look like that. Think of what we're gonna tell her later." And he went and sat back down. Without drying the couch, I might add.

I just stared at him, still coming to terms with the absolute logic of what he'd said. He must have seen the resignation on my face, because he smirked.

"Want breakfast?"

* * *

"James Potter, I swear, if you don't come up with an excuse to give to Professor Flitwick and McGonagall, I'll tell them you kidnapped me and locked me in a closet."

We were walking up to our room from the Kitchens, for the second time in 12 hours, and still had no idea how we were going to explain our absence. I was fretting with worry, and finding out for the first time just how deaf James Potter was. He was walking feet ahead of me, taking long strides forward, his long legs be damned. I hurried to keep pace.

"James, please."

He turned around suddenly. "Lily, will you stop fretting? We missed _class_. One freaking lesson. We didn't douse the entire school in blue paint or Vanish every single thing in every class." He raised his hands in front of his chest. "We won't be expelled."

I let out a breath, finally losing patience.

"It must be all the same to _you_. Skipping class or actually going. It's not like that for me. I don't just go to Professors ready to get detention without the slightest care in the world. And I'm not sorry if I can't help it."

"Lily," he said, in a low voice, compliant. "Okay. I'll think of something. And you don't have to be sorry either. There's nothing wrong in not wanting to breaking rules. You don't have to go along with everything others are cool with. There's no question of you trying to help it."

I looked at him then, and I knew I shouldn't have. An apology was written clear in his eyes. I regretted snapping at him. I couldn't say anything; just looked away from him and stared ahead.

He turned away from me, and started walking once again.

"Did you say something about me locking you in a closet?"

"Yeah." I held back a smile.

"That's a good idea."

I stared at him. "What?"

"Not _me_ locking you up. Just the locking part."

"Yeah?" I sounded wholly sceptical.

"Hmm. What if we got locked in the owlery?"

"Possible. Improbable. Also, how did we get out?"

"Good question. How about a closet? A broom closet!"

No, no, no. I tried and failed to keep from blushing. Didn't he think about _anything?_ We'd never hear the end of it.

"You want to tell them you were locked with me in a broom closet?" I asked, not sounding nearly as condescending as I wished.

"Well, awkward, but possible. We were doing rounds, we caught a couple snogging, we didn't see their faces, we tried to get them to leave but they tricked us in and locked the closet." He frowned. "Though it hurts my pride to admit to having been overpowered."

"It hurts my pride, too," I said, not wholly against this idea. "But we were _tricked_. Not overpowered."

He smiled. "'Kay. How did we come out?"

"But still. How could we have been tricked?"

He gave me a look.

"Alright, fine! Alice," I said, without thinking. "We'll tell her all about it. No one will ever doubt her."

"Great." He grinned. "Happy now?"

I gave him a mock smile which, against my will, of course, turned into a real one. "It's still a ridiculous excuse, but I don't have a better idea. So yeah. Much happier."

Once inside the Portrait Hole, I immediately ran up the staircase to get my books for Ancient Runes, and leave as quickly as possible to find Alice.

* * *

James Potter was almost to the staircase leading up to his room, when his eyes suddenly caught on to the quilt, still lying spread out on the couch, soaked wet. He hadn't realized it in the morning, but it was the quilt from his room.

 _How did it come to be down here?_ he thought, drying it up with a simple drying charm, and making to carry it upstairs. Then he remembered picking up his glasses off the table, where they'd been placed neatly against a book, when he had no recollection of placing them there.

He looked upwards to the closed door of the girl upstairs, and smiled.

* * *

"Alice!" I yelled, my voice echoing in the empty hallway.

She turned around, her eyes widening. "Lily!"

I ran up to her where she stood, waiting, holding her bag in one hand. "Where in the devil's name have you been? I've been looking for you since breakfast," she said, once I reached her, gasping and panting.

"Yeah, that's what this is about. You have to tell McGonagall you opened the closet. If she asks you."

"What closet?"

"The supposed closet we got locked in. The truth is, we slept in."

She raised her eyebrows questioningly.

"I'll you about it later. Gotta go find that Professor." I turned to go, when I remembered something else. "Why were you looking for me?"

"Oh yeah," she started digging around in her bag, pulling out an envelope. "A letter arrived for you at breakfast," she said, handing it over.

"Oh." It was from Mum.

"Well, I've gotta go for Muggle Studies. See you later."

"Yeah. Thanks. Bye," I said, as she slung her bag over her shoulder and went her way. I slipped the letter into my bag and headed for Ancient Runes, wondering what it could be.

* * *

Petunia was getting married.

I couldn't believe the eagerness with which I'd opened the letter. She was marrying that money-driven, dull and dumb moustached pig, who couldn't think past how much more money he could've earned if he hadn't spent a few minutes talking and laughing.

I could already see myself in a bridesmaid's dress halfway through the letter. I needn't have bothered.

I wasn't invited.

I wasn't surprised. I knew she hated me. Of course she wouldn't invite me.

What I couldn't understand was why I felt my eyes burning. But I didn't even _care_.

I dropped the letter into the fire, slipped into my shoes and walked out, breaking into a run as soon as I was out into the empty corridor, towards the first place I could think of. Suddenly, I just needed to be away, out of any place enclosed in four walls.

The air was sharp, clear, and I felt it flood my lungs like water as I sucked in a breath and started around the contours of the Pitch. The grass was wet under my feet, my cheeks stinging as I pushed myself forward through the trees at the back. Dusted with frost, it looked even more bereft than usual. When I got to its far end, the hoops in sight ahead, I stopped, then bent down, putting my hands on my legs, and tried to catch my breath and swallow back my tears. I could feel the cold all around me – seeping through my shoes, in the air, moving through and around the empty, abandoned place beside me. I slipped down to the floor, leaning against the boundary, and struggled to make my mind heard over my heart.

It wasn't like I'd been dreaming of going and enjoying myself at her wedding. I hadn't even been thinking about it.

Hell, I hadn't even known she was _planning_ to get married – at least, not anytime soon.

I'd always known we'd never revert back to the sisters we'd been before I turned eleven. But I'd always expected us to get over ourselves, as we grew older. I'd always imagined myself, at 18 years, crossing Petunia in a room and nodding to her in that detached way. Tolerating each other. Maybe a formal guest at her wedding, if not a bridesmaid.

 _Why_ did she hate me so much? Why did I have to care?

I jumped when I heard a twig snap feet away from me. I hurriedly wiped my face.

Who on earth could it be? Hagrid?

I stared at the clearance ahead, when a pair of long legs came into view through the grass. My eyes travelled upwards, to the hazel eyes I knew I'd find, looking at me perceptively from behind the rimmed glasses.

I hid my face in my arms once again. How on earth did he find me?

 _Go away go away go away._

 _Please come and talk and make me forget this._

I didn't know which I wanted.

Without raising my head, I felt him slip down beside me, his warmth comforting in the cold. I was torn between wanting to move away, hiding my face, and leaning in closer.

I didn't have to choose.

He pulled me closer, and I let my head fall onto his shoulder. His arm came around me, enveloping me like a warm, comforting blanket. He smelled of pine and mud and freshly mowed grass; I resisted the urge to lean in closer.

I shoved Petunia away from the front of my mind, as far as I could. We remained sitting like that for hours or minutes, I didn't care how long. I would've been content to sit there, thinking about nothing, forever.

"Lily?"

When he broke the silence, it took me a second to remember why I'd come out in the freezing cold. I raised my head slightly.

"What happened?" I dropped my head down again, fighting against the hurt beginning to break through. A couple of minutes passed before I answered.

"Petunia's getting married."

After a few seconds, I added, "I'm not invited."

Almost imperceptibly, his arm tightened around me.

"When we were little," I said, "I wouldn't move to the next room without her. I followed her around everywhere she went. Whatever she did, I wanted to do as well. I annoyed her so much sometimes, she'd go complain to Mum. Then, finally fed up with our quarrels, when Mum decided to give us separate rooms, she protested and defended me herself.

"We'd completely planned out each other's weddings. She was going to be my Maid of Honour, and I hers. We'd played at walking down the aisle with a pillowcase over our heads for the veil. We'd planned to marry brothers, so that we'd stay in the same family, never be separated."

I couldn't believe I was telling him this. But the words were just coming.

"I sometimes wish I'd never told her I was a witch. I could've just kept it secret, and told her I went to a boarding school somewhere far away. I don't know how the lie could've worked, since we practically lived in the same house, but – just – _anything_ would've been better.

"She always hated me after that. Since after I turned eleven. My parents thought it was just a phase, she'd get over it. She couldn't possibly hate her sister for life." I looked up at him. "But she did."

If it were anyone else I was talking to, I would've cried. The lump in my throat would've become more and more painful until tears leaked out. But looking at him then, it was like staring into hazel orbs beckoning me forward, to an abode of comfort.

As I laid my head back against the wall, he lifted his hand, smoothing it over my hair, and held it there.

"You sometimes don't realize all the good things about someone until after they're gone. For all its worth, I think she misses you too, somewhere."

I scoffed. "Yeah, right."

"Listen," he insisted. "When she started hating you, she lost a sister too. You, you came to Hogwarts and got a whole new life, while she had to stay behind knowing she could never have what you have. Imagine how seeing you do accidental magic must've fascinated her. Because you must've done it in front of her, right?"

He continued before I answered. "Unfortunately for both of you, her feelings of jealousy and bitterness got the better of her. And she had almost a whole year apart from you, in which time she let them grow. When you went back, she must've hated you all the more."

I looked at him in amazement. He was completely right. Petunia's resentment towards me between the time I got my letter and left for Hogwarts was nothing compared to the behaviour she'd reserved for me during the few months I spent at home.

"After all these years, it's probably too late for her to mend things with you, even if a tiny part of her wanted to. She's created a barrier around her own heart. She doesn't want you in her life. The best thing you can do for yourself is to let go, and just hold on to the memories of the good times you had together. You'll want her back, of course, but you can't force yourself upon someone if they don't want you." He paused. "Unless you want to ask her to be your sister everyday, the way I asked you to go out with me everyday."

I couldn't help it; I laughed. "That's a very good and very weird comparison," I said, imagining doing that to Petunia. "She'd look at me like I'm mad the first time I do it, then screech her head off by the twentieth time. Then I'd have to stop because she'd threaten to shoot me, and I couldn't do that to my parents."

He nodded. "See? Not working. Besides, I don't think you could be as persistent as me, even if you tried."

I nodded in agreement. "True, that."

He grinned and stood up, brushing twigs off his legs. Then he extended a hand towards me. I took it, pulling myself up, not half as smoothly as he did, so that I went tumbling into his chest.

Which was as hard as ever.

Trust my brain to catch on to the right thing at the right time. The sudden closeness unsettled me for a second.

I felt this little rush, like a flame flickering.

It was the cold.

Stepping away, I brushed off my skirt, and retied my ponytail.

He was standing with his hands in his pockets, and started walking once I was done. I speeded up a bit to keep up with him, leaves crunching under my feet. We were at the closed doors of the Great Hall in no time.

"Did we miss dinner?" I asked, ready to curse every single empty table if we had.

He threw open the oak doors, to a hundred lighted candles greeting us in the distance.

"Nope," he said. "Turns out we're just in time."

Thinking past the growling of my stomach, I grabbed his arm. He turned to look at me.

"Thanks, James," I said, meaning it every bit. "You're wonderful."

Don't look at me like that. It wasn't what I'd planned to say.

"Anytime," he smiled. "And let's see if you remember that tomorrow," he added, his smile stretching into a grin. I rolled my eyes.

 _I would've agreed if I hadn't been trying to forget it for weeks,_ I thought as we walked towards our that wasn't something I could explain to him, or to myself.

But food was there to help me forget all about it, for now.

* * *

 **A/N: Liked it? Loved it? Hated it?**

 **Just click on the little box below, and let me know. It would only take a minute, but it would make my day. Honestly.**


	13. Chapter 13

I threw the quill to the floor. It's pointed end clattered against the marble, and it rolled away, coming to rest in front of a pair of brown shoes.

"The bloody thing just won't change," I seethed through my teeth. I could've set fire to it. "I'm done. Decided. I'll go and tell McGonagall, 'yeah, Professor, go and give me a 'P', just like you always do, coz guess what? I don't even care. Stupid Transfiguration and stupid her and these stupid dumb wands. It's a quill, it should remain a quill! If you want a pincushion, go get one! But no. Lazy _bugs_ , they had to invent spells to turn one thing into another! What about the unfortunate students who would have to learn them in future?" I demanded, looking up at the hazel eyes at this last sentence. I let out a breath, still grinding my teeth.

"Dumb subject. Dumb, _dumb_ subject."

A couple of minutes passed before I felt the quill dropped into my lap. I glared at the offensive thing, then scowled at him. "I suppose _you_ got an 'O' again?"

He raised his eyebrows. I looked away, flushing.

"Change it," he said, suddenly.

"What?"

He pointed at the quill. "Change it. Transfigure. I want to see how you do it."

I stared at him resolutely, unmoving. "Get lost."

He laughed. "Lily, as cute as you are when you're angry, it would really be better if you do as I say."

My head snapped up as I looked up at him, as defiantly as I could, through the blush stealing across my neck.

" _Oh?_ " Lily Evans didn't like to be ordered.

 _Lily Evans didn't blush when James Potter called her cute._

I opened my mouth intending to let him know that I could do what I wanted, and him just saying I was cute in that offhanded fashion hadn't affected my anger in any way whatsoever, but my words caught in my throat. All of a sudden, he was holding The Help above the fire.

My new favourite book.

"Pick up your wand. And one sudden movement," he said, and cocked his head towards the book, indicating towards the fire.

I got over my shock. "You wouldn't do it."

"Yeah?"

He dropped it.

I screamed. I jumped up and ran to the fire, nose almost into the flames, when he pulled me back up by the top of my arm. Frantic, I looked at him – and almost gave another shout of relief when I saw the book in his hand.

Stupid Quidditch prodigy.

"Lily, go and sit," he said.

"I hate you," I replied, and went and threw myself down onto the couch.

"Wand."

I picked it up and held it poised above my quill.

He gave me an amused look. "No wonder you aren't getting it. You're holding your wand the wrong way, Lily," he said, smiling at me. "Keep your wrist loose."

Keeping the book down (my eyes following it every second), he pulled out his own wand, and presented me with a pincushion with one flick. "Like this."

I gasped as he turned it back into a quill again. He made it look as easy as turning on a tap.

"And don't think of summoning the book."

I scowled. Slightly more hopeful now (though I'd never tell him so), I held my wand, wrist loose, and flicked it the only way I knew. The quill gave a feeble jump, and the wand flew out of my hand and went crashing into the wall opposite. I stared in disbelief, then looked at James, who'd burst out laughing. I looked back at my wand, glaring at it as best as I could, while trying my best to suppress my own smile.

I walked up and retrieved my wand, then came to stand in front of the table.

"Shall we have another try?" he said, grinning at me. Was he serious?

He must have read the question on my face, because he walked up to me and picked up my quill. Then extended his palm towards me.

I looked up at him in confusion, but handed over my wand.

He shook his head, laughing. "Lily," he said, "you're the one who needs to learn the spell. What will I do with your wand?"

He handed me my wand, and then, before I knew it, had moved behind me and was holding up my wrist. I felt the entire length of his frame against mine, his wonderful cologne flooding my senses.

It was suddenly difficult to breathe.

"See? Its that simple," he said, moving away, his palm now holding the pincushion. I had no memory of the quill turning into one.

The burning of his fingers around my wrist refused to fade.

He held out the pincushion, when I saw the book in his hand again. I jumped up to grab it – and clutched at air, losing my footing in the process. He slipped an arm around my waist to keep me from falling, while the other arm held the book far out of my reach. I looked up at him – and found his face inches away from mine, close enough so I could see every speck of gold and hazel. For the life of me, I couldn't look away. His eyes were so beautiful.

 _Why hadn't I ever noticed that before?_

He stepped away, and handed me the pincushion. It took me a second to remember what we'd been doing.

I sighed. "I can't do this, James." I plopped back onto the couch.

He sat down beside me. Prying open my fingers, he thrust the quill into my palm.

"You can do it, and you will." He held out my wand. "You're focusing too much."

I looked at him. "I didn't know there was such a thing as 'focusing too much'," I said, holding my wand.

"Well, there is. Your intent matters a lot. While uttering the spell, you're thinking more about whether you'll get it this time or not than about actually transfiguring the quill. You need to focus on the magic, Lily, not on the possibility of your success."

I looked from him to my wand, and this time, for some reason, I desperately wanted to get the spell right.

Picking up my wand, I muttered the incantation again, and concentrated as best as I could on creating a pincushion.

I didn't get it. I looked at him, but he just pointed towards the quill for me to go again.

It took me three tries, but I finally got it. A soft and beautiful pincushion. I looked at it and laughed in delight.

I turned to look at James, and he was already looking at me, a look in his eyes that I couldn't place but which made me warm all over. Before I knew what I was doing, I'd thrown my arms around him and hugged him.

It was only for a second, and I pulled away as fast as I could, blushing furiously. He looked stunned.

"Wow," he said, breathing out, "you sure look happy to have done something in 'stupid dumb transfiguration'." A smile spread across his face.

I picked up my wand and went at it again, changing the pincushion back into a quill.

"This is so damn easy," I said, looking at my quill, still partly disbelieving.

"It is."

I jumped up from the couch, and thanked him profusely before rushing upstairs to get my ink and parchment, to get started on my written assignment. There was no way I was getting a 'P' this time.

When I came back, he'd already left.

I settled down in the armchair opposite the fire.

I wrote barely one page in the next one hour. My brain kept going back to him – the look in his eyes when I finally got it right, the feel of him against me as I hugged him.

I wished I could've held on longer.

I didn't know what was wrong with me.

* * *

I went down to the Great Hall just in time for the feast. I sat down next to Marlene, the handle of my bag accidentally landing in her plate.

"Merlin, be _careful,_ " she said impatiently, throwing it out. I looked questioningly at Alice. She pointed to her right.

 _Remus?_ I mouthed. What could Remus have done?

She shook her head.

"Very subtle, both of you," Marlene said, looking up from her plate. I wasn't embarrassed one bit at having gotten caught, though Alice turned slightly pink.

"Why don't _you_ tell me, then?"

She glared at James in reply. "Why don't you ask _him?_ " she said, poking her fork in his direction.

I looked at James, who shook his head at me.

"Ask him where he was during Quidditch Practice."

"Quidditch practice?"

"He didn't turn up for the whole evening. We were already short of time. We barely had half an hour today when all the members were free. But no. The Captain didn't turn up."

"Marlene, I'm sorry!" James exclaimed. "How many times do I have to apologize?"

She poked at her food angrily. "If you would just tell me where you were! What was so imp – "

He cut her off quickly. "What if I tell you I got the ground booked for three extra days?"

She stared at him.

He gave a slow grin. "Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Two hours on Thursday, and as long as we want on Saturday and Sunday."

She just looked at him for a minute. Then her face broke out into a mad grin, and she chucked a wad of tissue at him.

"Why didn't you tell me before, you prat?" she exclaimed, her face lit up.

He snorted. "Like I didn't try. And Marlene, did you really think I would miss practice if today was the only day we had? I'd already gotten permission from McGonagall in the morning for extra time."

"Well, I should've known, but you can't blame me," she said, shrugging.

I looked away from her, and started piling food onto my plate. It was then that I suddenly caught on to it.

In an instant, I remembered the shoes he'd been wearing. His Quidditch shoes. He'd been heading out.

I looked up at him slowly. He was devouring a pile of chicken, talking to Sirius at the same time.

I knew where James was in the evening. He'd missed Quidditch practice because he was in the Common Room, with me, listening to me rant, and unraveling the pugnacious concepts of Transfiguration before my eyes.

* * *

 **A/N: There it is. I've already posted this chapter as a separate one-shot, but I decided to modify it a bit and fit it into this story.**

 **This is the first chapter to have considerably more J/L action, and I would really love to know how it came out. So please review. It makes me insanely happy. Almost as happy as Lily was when she hugged James :)**


	14. Amortentia

We walked into the dark and dusty dungeon, my nose already filled with the millions of different kinds of smells emanating from the cauldrons kept along the walls. Alice and I took our place behind Remus and Marlene, next to James and Sirius. The dungeon was filled with voices and murmurs, which slowly died down as Professor Slughorn's belly entered the room, followed by Professor Slughorn.

"Settle down, class!" he said, beaming at us widely, his smile barely visible through his great walrus moustache.

"Keep your wands and cauldrons ready! You have all figured out by now, I'm sure, that today is going to be an extremely important lesson?"

"Which lesson _isn't_ important?" Sirius muttered under his breath.

"All lessons are, Mr. Black," said Slughorn, turning towards him,"but you would most definitely have this for your NEWTs. Indeed, it has been asked every year."

"Isn't that kinda dumb, Professor?" Sirius said, no sign of embarrassment in his voice at Slughorn having heard him.

"What's the point in asking something students already _know_ is going to come?"

"The point, Mr. Black, is that students are sure to learn this lesson every year, because they _know_ its going to be asked. Which means, that you had better pay attention. You too, Mr. Potter," he added to James, who was staring at the cauldron of Amortentia behind Slughorn sceptically.

"You haven't even told us what it _is_ , Professor," said James.

"I would, Mr. Potter, if you'd let me," he said, growing annoyed.

"Sure, Professor," James said, smiling smoothly.

"Now, who can tell me what this is? Anyone...?" He asked, pointing towards the cauldron of Amortentia, already looking my way. I raised my hand, and saw Sirius roll his eyes out of the corner of my eyes.

"Lily, m'dear! Come on, what is it, then?" he asked, beaming.

"Its Amortentia, Professor."

"And so it is! Five points to Gryffindor! Amortentia, or the Draught of the Living Dead as some might call it, is one of the most powerful love potions in the world."

I saw most of the class perk up at once. Sirius nudged James.

"Why, Prongs, did you ever realise Evans was just a _Potion_ away from you?" he asked through his barely contained grin. Marlene smirked at him, while James smacked his head.

"Shut up, you git," he muttered.

"Oh no, no, no m'dears!" Slughorn said, raising his palms up. He seemed to have heard Sirius once again. "No matter how strong its effects, Amortentia does _not_ , indeed, initiate love. It merely causes a strong attraction, one that immediately dies out with the effect of the Potion."

The class looked crestfallen.

"Immediate attraction?" Sirius asked loudly, grinning. "Why, that's perfect! You mean, I could give the potion to ten different girls, and at the end of the day I'd still be free?" he continued, clearly amazed that such an ingenious potion as this could exist.

"I meant nothing of that sort, Mr. Black," Slughorn said, sternly, while Sirius continued to look delighted. "The use of Amortentia for wrong purposes is illegal, and you could face serious consequences," he added. He turned back to the class and started giving instructions before Sirius could open his mouth to reply.

"Now, keep your copies of _Advanced Potion-Making_ on your desks, everyone. You can collect the set of ingredients you need from the store-cupboards, one by one – _one by one,_ Mr. Black and Mr. Potter," he called out after the pair of them, who had already risen from their seats and were halfway to the cupboard. James raised his hands in an apologetic gesture, the expression on his face was anything but apologetic, and sat back down. Sirius rushed towards the cupboard, almost knocking over Frank's cauldron on the way. I thought Slughorn might have put his head in his hands.

I took out my copy of _Advanced Potion-Making_ , and opened it to the right page. Remus did the same in front of me – Marlene hadn't touched her bag yet, and was instead looking over at Remus' side of the table, waiting for him to start working. Next to me, Alice dropped her book onto the table with a loud _thump._ Once we'd all gotten our ingredients, the dungeon got filled with the sounds of knives chopping, liquids splashing against cauldrons, colourful fumes and strong, pleasant smells – something very unusual in a place which usually smelt sour and dusty. I welcomed the change, and I was almost itching to get the potion done.

I finished cutting up my Valerian roots neatly, and started squeezing the sopophorous beans. My potion, though, simply refused to turn the shade of lilac it was supposed to be, and I grew more and more impatient by the second. In front of me, Remus seemed to be having the same problem. Marlene was still stuck up with her roots, which were now spread out all over her table. She looked to Remus pleadingly for help, and he cut up her roots in about a minute. Alice shook her head in her direction, disbelievingly.

I proceeded to add more and more of the sopophorous bean juice, and then grew so impatient that I simply did away with the knife and started crushing the beans between my fingers, squeezing the juice into the cauldron. At once, the potion turned a delicate shade of lilac.

"How'd you _do_ that, Lily?" Alice exclaimed.

"Just squeeze the beans, Alice. They produce much more juice that way," I said.

She did as I said, though her potion still remained resolutely purple. She groaned in frustration.

"I think you went wrong somewhere before," I said.

"Humph. This is a ridiculous potion," she said, and started all over again.

Professor Slughorn started walking around the room, looking into different cauldrons, tutting disapprovingly here and there. He frowned at Alice's nearly empty cauldron.

"You'd have to be faster, dear," he said, and moved over to mine.

"Aha!" he exclaimed. "Excellent, Lily, m'dear, excellent!" he said, beaming encouragingly. I blushed. He gave a snort of disgust as he looked into James and Sirius' cauldrons. They looked pleased with themselves, though.

I began stirring my potion counter-clockwise, and it grew paler. I could make out a few distinct smells by now – wet earth, mum's shampoo, and...something which reminded me of a broomstick. How odd. Why on earth would a broomstick smell be coming from _my_ cauldron?

I kept stirring, and though the colour remained the same, the smells grew more distinct. Yep, I could definitely smell broomstick. And the polish which Marlene had in her Quidditch kit. Books, parchment, treacle tart and...some smell I vaguely remembered from the Heads' Common Room.

It was intoxicating.

I looked up – I seemed to have progressed the farthest, except for Severus; his potion was exactly the colour it was supposed to be, pale pink.

Marlene, whose potion was still painfully black, turned in her seat and took a whiff from mine. She closed her eyes, and sighed in contentment.

"What'd you smell, Marlene?" I asked, curiously.

"The Quidditch pitch...butterbeer...Jet! Chocolate...my broom and...oh, this is wonderful," she said, looking up after a while. Her eyes caught on to something, and she gave an amused smile; I followed her gaze and looked towards my side at James and Sirius, who were busy watching just how many colours their potion could turn into, from blue to red to brown, no matter what ingredient they added. It ultimately did turn purple too, as I'm sure was their objective – though their potion smelt so awful they could barely continue to work on it.

Alice came over to my side, and leaned over my cauldron to smell.

"Hmm...this is amazing," she said, contentedly. "Parchment, bananas...and...oh _,_ that's –" she suddenly flushed, and looked over at Frank, who was already looking at her from the other end of the room. I let out a breath.

" _Merlin,_ you two. If you don't grow up and get married, then Bellatrix Black is my favourite person," I said, shaking my head.

"Shut up," Alice said, still quite red. I rolled my eyes.

"If you – " I was interrupted by Slughorn's cry of delight at Severus' potion.

" _This i_ s called Amortentia, boys and girls! Come over and have a look! Severus, well done, m'boy, well done!" he said, clapping him on the back. "This is the best potion brewed by any student I've ever taught, I tell you!"

I craned my neck over the heads of others to have a look – indeed, his potion had the exact characteristic mother-of-pearl sheen as described in the textbook. I met his eyes, and looked away in a fraction of a second – feeling a strong pang in my stomach, remembering how we used to make every potion together, splitting up the cutting and stirring jobs, both of us equally crazy about potion-making. I hurried back to my table, not wanting to meet his eyes again; I needn't have worried, because he'd already disappeared somewhere.

"Well, as you must have noticed," began Slughorn, "each of you will be able to smell different things, depending on what attracts you most. That, my dears, is the most distinctive quality of Amortentia. It can look into your soul and read things about you, better than even you can."

I was starting to doubt that now, though. Since when did I find broomsticks attractive?

"Now, I expect a three-foot long – " the class groaned " – essay from each one of you on the effects and after-effects of Amortentia – due next week! Clean up your cauldrons, and clear off, now!" he said, going over to the store-cupboards to keep back the supplies.

* * *

 **A/N: A very short chapter, I know. But it just felt right to end it there.**

 **Please leave a review, it practically makes me dance with happiness inside. I swear. Go on, you're already on the page!**


	15. A Turning Point of Sorts

I couldn't find James anywhere. Where could a person be when he wanted to hide from everyone? He'd want some time to think...and there was only one place you could do both those things, I realized.

I started racing towards the Astronomy Tower. Nearing it, I climbed the staircase in one go, clutching my side, and tried to catch my breath once I reached the top.

Sure enough, there he was, his untidy hair and tall frame silhouetted against the dark night. He was gazing into the night, like he wanted to shout out and demand answers from it. I had a few questions I wanted answered myself. I didn't think I'd ever seen him so still. Seeing him look like that made it difficult to breathe.

Merlin. Was I going to start crying even before I'd confronted him?

I forced myself to calm down. I was there to comfort him, not to be comforted.

Collecting myself, I walked over to him on my tip-toes, making as little noise as possible. I went up and stood next to him, trying to think of something to say.

And then I realized I had no idea what to do. What could you say to a seventeen year old boy whose parents had been the two people whom he loved the most, and who had just been murdered? Losing them was just _not_ something a seventeen year old should have to deal with.

I felt my throat constricting again. _Damn_.

I blinked, and then looked over at him. He didn't seem to give any indication, by a look or by body language, that he knew I was there. I felt the cool wind biting against my cheeks. He had to be freezing.

Unsteadily, I reached out and covered his hand with my palm. After a few unresponsive minutes, he finally turned towards me; and then I almost wished he hadn't. His hazel eyes, usually alight with mischief, were filled with so much pain, coldness, anger, questions, and worst of all, some sort of emptiness that I wanted to do something, _anything_ , to take it all away. A still, sad James Potter was just not supposed to exist. I wished I could cover his eyes with my hands, so that when I removed them, I could find them to be filled with that joyfulness, that mischievous sparkle again. Instead, I felt so helpless, it felt like something was breaking in me.

Not surprisingly, the first words out of his mouth were, "How's Sirius?"

He'd already pulled his hand away. My hands felt strangely empty. I shoved them into my pockets.

"He's not letting anyone talk to him. He wanted to be left alone," I said, my breath fogging in front of me. "Alice is with him, though. She was the only one who could get near him."

He nodded, then turned away again. I decided not to go back yet, because I could sense he needed to talk about it. And sooner or later, he would.

We stood in silence for a few long moments. Finally, so softly I almost didn't hear it, he said, "I wish he didn't have to go through this, Lily."

 _I wish you didn't have to go through this either, James._ But of course, I didn't say that aloud. Instead, I remained quiet.

"He doesn't deserve this. The only real family he had in his entire life, for all of two years, only to have it snatched away again." He said it like he couldn't believe the ways of the Universe. _You're thinking of Sirius first, even in this situation,_ I thought disbelievingly.

"You're his family too, James," I said softly.

"It's not the same."

I knew that. And I understood. More than anything, I felt the unfairness of it, the inarguable injustice of anyone having the power to make someone feel like this.

"You don't deserve it, either," I said. I could sense him preparing to pull away, now that the focus was on him.

"I don't want to talk about it."

And I wasn't going to leave until he did.

I pulled my hands out of my pockets, and took his hand again. Just like I'd expected, he tried to pull away again, but this time I only held on tighter.

He drew a long, shuddering breath. "Lily, please. I –"

"Just _tell_ me, James."

I thought he'd just remain silent, when all of a sudden he started talking.

"What do you want to know, Lily, it just hurts so _much_! All I know is I wish I could be with them, wherever they are, that I _didn't_ want them to leave me in this world alone! And I regret so many things, Lily. I wish I'd been less of a disappointment. I wish I'd listened to them, instead of always having my own way. I wish I'd appreciated my parents more. It's too late now, and I'd never know what kind of sacrifices they gave for me. It's too late, and I'd never be able to make it up to them. They didn't deserve what I gave them, Lily, they deserved much, much better. And now it's too late. Too late to do _anything_. I wish I could have them back for just a few seconds, just long enough for me to apologize. I feel like I'll die if I look into a mirror again. I can't live with myself. I've never detested anyone as much as I detest myself right now."

His voice had been rising steadily, and he was trying to pull his hand out of my grasp again.

"You had never, ever been a disappointment to them!" I exclaimed.

He scoffed so scornfully that I felt as if nothing I said was going to make a difference.

"I can't even talk to them."

" _Listen_ to me! I've heard of parents having bigger disappointments than a boy who's top of the class every year, Quidditch Captain, Head Boy, and totally loved by anyone who meets him. Your parents were proud of you, whether they told you or not. It practically shone in their eyes, James. They looked at you like you were the best thing that ever happened to them. Trust me, if there was anything in the world they thought was perfect, it was you." And as I said it, I found myself believing it.

"What I would do to the person who killed them. I'd rip every inch of him apart, and burn him up."

Looking into his eyes, for the first time, gave me goosebumps.

"I hate this world so much. I wish I could destroy it. Everything. There's no point in living in a place where people are so dead afraid of the injustice they do nothing to stop it."

Had he even listened to a word I'd said?

"And would you listen to yourself, Lily?

"All parents are proud of their kids. But not all of them have to put up with an insufferable brat. I – I just want to find them. So I could go to them and somehow make up for everything they did for me. Tell them I didn't want to be as much of a pain as I was."

I'd never heard him talk about himself like this. It was a complete turn-around from his earlier, arrogant nature. For some reason, this bothered me more than his arrogance had ever bothered me.

"Every parent sacrifices a lot for their children," I said. "Even if they lived with us all our lives, there's no way we would ever be able to repay them. And if you really do want them back for a few seconds to say something, then think about telling them how grateful you are for everything they did, and about how you are going to live the life they laid out ahead of you as fully as possible. Parents are givers, James, they don't expect anything from you other than for you to be happy and live your whole life by the values they embedded in you. For them, seeing you in this state would have been the worst thing they'd have to endure. Definitely much worse than death."

He'd stopped struggling by now; instead, his hand was lying limp within mine. I sincerely hoped he'd listened this time.

After that, he was quiet for so long I thought he'd gone back to his self-loathing again. I was already getting ready to tell him to snap out of it, when he started talking again.

"My parents have been the role models I've looked up to all my life. I was never scared for anything before, because I knew they'd eventually set everything right. They were everything to me. What am I going to _do_ without them? How is it fair that they leave the world and I have to stay behind?"

The look on his face, and the yearning in his voice tormented me. It almost made me wish he'd go back to being angry again. _Almost._ Anything was better than this despairing, tortured expression. He looked so lost, so hopeless, that I reached over and took his face in my hands. If not for my presence, I knew he'd like to curl up and cry. At least his eyes had lost the anger and coldness in them. I let myself think that it meant at least some of what I'd said had gone into his head.

"You aren't without them, James. That's the thing about loved ones, and especially about parents. They never truly leave you. They're reflected in every act of yours, because you are what they've made you to become. They will always live in you, James. And trust me, they couldn't have done a better job on you," I said, my voice sounding unnaturally thick.

If someone had told me a few months back that I'd be telling this to James Potter, I'd have laughed in their face. And yet, I believed it now. I'd hoped he would smile. I would've given anything in that moment to see even the hint of a smile on his face.

"If you say so."

I rolled my eyes.

"Will you be trying to kill yourself because you think you're a waste of space the next time you're alone again?" I demanded.

"I don't know," he answered honestly.

I resisted the urge to smack him.

"I hope not," I said, instead.

I knew I'd have to do with that right then. The moon had fully risen by this time, casting a deathly, pale light on the grounds below. I was about to suggest we head back inside, because we were slowly freezing into icicles, when he spoke again.

"It's so unfair, isn't it?" he said, suddenly. I knew exactly what he was talking about. I waited for him to continue.

"So many people dying, because of one sick wizard. So much of brutality, futility, and stupidity. How many families has he pulled apart by now?"

"The crueler it is, the sooner it'll be over, James. I'm sure of it. We'll stop Voldemort, whatever it takes. He won't go on much longer. Because, believe me, the two things we need most are patience and time. And no matter how powerless we are to prevent injustice, we'll never fail to protest."

He looked at me, quite as if he were seeing me for the first time. Slowly, he nodded.

"You're right. Whatever it takes." He looked like if given the chance, he'd go after him that very second.

Then, without thinking, I reached over and pulled him into a hug. He stiffened immediately, and for a second I thought he might pull away. Then, slowly, his arms came around me.

I'd never felt as right as I did in that moment. I breathed in, and stopped short.

I recognized that smell – I knew I'd smelled it somewhere, but I couldn't place where.

"Whatever you think, James, you and Sirius are the best sons your parents could have had. They'd be proud of you," I said. "And you're very lucky to have each other," I added softly.

He didn't respond at first.

"You're one of the best friends I could have had. Thank you so much," he said into my hair. I felt like the sun was rising in my world.

He was the first to pull away.

"I have to go find Sirius. I'm not sure what state he'd be in."

Then – yes, you can go ahead and applaud – he ran his hand through his hair. That one completely familiar gesture from him convinced me that everything would be all right – yes, it would take a very long time, maybe even months or years, but he'd be fine.

"Thank Merlin, James," I breathed, relieved.

He looked confused, naturally.

"What?"

"Nothing. Let's go back inside. I'm freezing."

And then we headed back. My heart felt considerably lighter, but at the same time I wanted to sit down and cry, and strangle some Death Eaters. Anyone who could make James Potter look like he had today deserved a fate much worse than a Dementor's Kiss.

* * *

Before I knew what I was doing, I laid my head next to his and observed his profile in my periphery.

The look on his face was so unlike the determined, conflicted expression he had worn while talking about Voldemort, that I found it difficult to tear my eyes away. He looked so completely vulnerable in his sleep, so at peace that for a minute I let myself believe that nothing could possibly be so wrong that it couldn't be put right.

Then the pictures of the tortured muggles from the _Daily Prophet_ flooded my mind, and I was brought back to the crushing reality. Voldemort was still out there, still torturing innocent muggles – innocent children, and there wasn't much an undaunted James Potter could do to stop him.

I pulled my hand back from his hair – I didn't know when it had made its way there – and stared into the fire. The unfairness of it all made me want to hit something. How could a single individual be such a formidable threat? Couldn't they just shoot him and be done with it?

No, of course not.

I decided to lay there for a few more minutes, too lazy to go to my room yet.

At some point, listening to his steady breathing, and comfortable in the warmth of the fire, I fell into a fitful sleep.

The last thought I remembered having was of the way his hair had felt under my fingers, smooth and satiny – I was too tired to even mentally slap myself for thinking it.

* * *

 **A/N: I had to think a hundred times before posting this. Please do tell me what you think.**


	16. Strange realizations

Chapter 16

The removal of the Marauders from the castle had an effect more like what removing about half the student body might have had. Every hallway seemed silent, every corridor lonelier. Peeves had been more of a jerk than usual, and whether that was to relieve his own boredom or as an attempt to somehow lighten the atmosphere, he wasn't helping anyone's case by irritating the already edgy professors. It was a wonder how the absence of four students brought down the noise level by millions of decibels. I was busy staring at the paintings ascending the staricase when I felt the sharp poke to my back.

"Lazy filth. Move over!"

Argus Filch. The happiest person in the school, for once. I quickened my pace to do as the harsh voice suggested, eager to sink into an armchair and begin my late-night reading. Nothing that books can't do to make you forget everything. That's what I liked them best for. Escape.

—

I woke up the next morning with eyes thoroghly strained, a dull ache behind my eyelids serving as a constant reminder of why sleeping for one hour a day was not highly recommended. Pfft. If another good book came along, I'd do it again.

I didn't open my eyes until I was ready to get dressed. And I didn't completely wake up until I dropped my food onto my skirt instead of into my mouth, leading to Alice dragging me out of the Great Hall and into the loo to hit a huge jet of water into my face.

"Jesus, Lily. If you don't wake up now I'm going to throw you into the Great Lake."

Mean girl, that one.

"Don't make that face. You look like a drunken rag doll as it is." She swept her hair off her forehead with the back of her hand, proceeding to hand me a towel. I accepted it ungraciously, head turned to the wall beside me.

"You know, if you miss him so much, all you have to do is send him an owl."

This wiped the scowl from my face. I turned to her, incredulous.

She raised her eyebrows, half-mimicking my look. "What?"

"What do you mean _what_?" I demanded, challenging her sanity. My first words of the day. She rolled her eyes.

"Lily, stop acting like I'm accusing you of a crime. It's okay if you miss him. I miss them too." She leaned against the wall. "Seems like every day is never ending."

I didn't say anything for a minute, not quite knowing what to say. I agreed with her, of course. Each day was becoming longer than the last.

I looked away from the floor to find her looking at me, a resigned expression on her face. I shrugged.

"Those Marauders do occupy a whole lot of space, don't they? Kind of hard not to feel the difference when they're gone," I said, more to myself than to her.

She spoke after a minute, and when she did, there followed the one conversation I'd never have imagined myself having in this Universe or in the parallel one.

"You're worrying about him too much."

I found myself mentally nodding, until the sentence finally made it's way into my brain, and my head snapped up.

"I am not." I mustered as much of disbelief at the idea as I could. I ploughed on when she opened her mouth to reply.

"Remus and Peter are there with them. I don't have to worry."

She nodded. "So that would explain why you were sitting staring at James' broomstick polish the day before yesterday. And why you got the _Aguamenti_ charm wrong the other day. Or," she continued, to my growing astonishment, "why your windows remained wide open even after you'd gotten up and sat back down after closing them."

I sputtered.

"It's called preoccupation! I was busy!"

"Busy worrying about James."

My jaw dropped.

"Alice, for the last time, I have not been thinking about anything or anyone anymore than you have!"

She nodded. "Right."

"Shut up! Of course I was worried! He lost his parents and he so didn't deserve that! I wish I could do something!"

My fists were clenched by this time and I suspected I now looked like a rag doll who wasn't just drunken, but also crazy.

With no smug reply forthcoming from Alice, I turned to look if she'd left, when she started walking towards me and pulled me into a hug. Brain muddled, thoughts jumbled, I simply hugged her back, putting all the pent up frustration and worry and tension of one week into one tight embrace.

Pulling apart, I had a few questions to ask her, but she spoke before I could.

"It'll be fine, Lily. They won't get over it that easily, we know that. Thinking about it all the time has made us into walking explosions. Think about what it'd be like for them if they kept on like us. The only thing we can do is prevent that from happening. We have to take their minds off this, and we can't do that unless we control ourselves first. We have to help them get over it. It's all we can do."

And it was true. We couldn't undo anything.

We stood in silence for a while, until I realised we were totally late for class. I was about to point this out to Alice, then stopped when I saw that she was standing at the entrance holding both our bags over her shoulder.

"You're not going to class," she said, in answer to my questioning look. I didn't get a chance to protest.

"You look like a mess. Have a look at your eyes. You have to sleep, and if you don't go of your own accord, I wouldn't mind forcing you."

I shrugged in resignation. "I'm not even gonna argue with you," I said, walking out and closing the door behind us. "I have no inclination to go to class. My bed looks pretty inviting at the moment."

A look of slight surprise crossed her face. I could practically read her thoughts, and she knew it. _Wow, Lily Evans skipping class?_

Yes, Lily Evans skipping class. I had one more thing to ask her, though.

"Alice?"

"Mm?"

"How did you know it was weighing my mind that badly?" I looked at her, questioning. She shrugged.

"You read for eight hours non-stop. You usually do that when you're trying to escape your thoughts. Remember the time you got Petunia's letter?"

And that was why I loved her.


End file.
